


Stars Align, Stars Collide

by RazormusPrime



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst and Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Brainwashing, F/M, I started this fic before season 2 so it has gone past following canon so enjoy have fun, M/M, OC Past Voltron Paladins, Thace is Keith's Dad, Trauma, all abroad the pain train, mild violence, there's gonna be a happy ending I swear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-15
Updated: 2018-04-03
Packaged: 2018-07-24 02:16:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 86,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7489443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RazormusPrime/pseuds/RazormusPrime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How could it all have come crashing down so horribly? With two Paladins under Galra control and the Castle of lions in the hands of Zarkon, the remaining Paladins are the last line of defense and the universe's only hope. The remaining Paladins have to do what they can to save their fellow teammates, question is, will they be the same people when they find them?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Down to Three

**Author's Note:**

> With every action there are consequences and Keith's may have been just enough to send everything they've built crashing down. Lance stared into the cold golden eyes of a monster and in that moment Keith was no longer his friend, his rival but despite that all he could do was stand there and smile. 
> 
> "It's not your fault..."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter dives right into the action and you guys are in for a ride. Warning there will be mild violence and blood. Much angst. Enjoy~

Chaos is the only word that could describe the situation at hand, and it was all his fault. Lance did his best to fly with only one hand but winced when a sudden jerk to the right sent a sharp pain through him. He gritted his teeth as he gripped onto his shoulder tightly. Blood seeped heavily through the tear in his armor and pooled on the floor. The amount of blood really should have concerned Lance but he had more important things to handle at the moment.

Lance roared as he quickly maneuvering through lasers and explosions before he fired back at the Galra fleet. They were completely surrounded and from the looks of things the odds weren’t in their favor.

He could hear the others yelling through the comm, trying to find each other in the chaos but he couldn’t make it out with the ringing in his ear.

He had a visual of the Castle of Lions and his stomach churned at the sight of the Castle lying in a crater. Lance hadn’t been conscious to see crash but the damage had devastated the surroundings. Lance wasn’t sure what the damage to the ship was. He barely had a moment to catch his breath from the hail of laser blasts much less to stop and look at the castle. They were still trying to get in contact with Allura and Coran but there was no answer.

All they could do now was wait for Shiro to look for them while the rest offered cover.

“Lance! Hunk! Where’s Keith?!” Pidge called out and this was not the first time she’s asked.

What could they say? Neither of them were sure what to say after what they had seen at the ruins. They were still trying to process it themselves really.

Lance bit his lip and gripped his wound tighter. “He’s not coming…” 

It was his fault. He’d been so stupid.

If only he’d taken things more seriously maybe this wouldn’t have happened. If he had only noticed something sooner he could have helped Keith. He was supposed to the Blue Paladin: the understanding and accepting one. So, maybe if he made himself more approachable, like Shiro or Hunk, then maybe things would have turned out differently.  

Some paladin he was, Lance cursed to himself softly.  

He shook his head and knew he had to snap out of it and focus. Dodging both fliers and lasers, Lance barreled straight for a command ship, activating Blue’s ice beam to take out some of their heavy duty canons but his aim was skewed and he missed a few.

He cursed softly, suddenly feeling lightheaded and a growing urge to vomit.

The bleeding was getting worse.

“Lance! You okay? Come on, you gotta stay awake!” Hunk tried to encourage him but Lance would hear his voice start to fade before he blacked out.

A memory suddenly came to Lance. Was it that whole life flashes before your life while you’re dying thing? He really hoped not. Still, it wasn’t a memory he had expected to see so in a way it felt like the universe went all out to say, “I told you so.”

He wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

_“You have no respect for the legacy of the Blue Paladin or your lion!” Allura yelled as Lance stepped out of the Blue Lion and into the Cargo Bay._

_“I come home after being left tied to a tree for an hour and come back to this.” Lance sighed as he pulled off his helmet and rested it against his hip._

_“Lance, do you realize your actions almost lead to the Blue Lion falling into the hands of the Galra?” Allura snapped, not in the mood for games._

_“Lance, you need to take accountability for your actions and what it would have cost the team.” Shiro sighed as he approached the two with the others close behind him._

_“Yeah, I get that. I was tied to a tree. Watching them take Blue away. Of course I understand.” Lance muttered, glancing up at his lion as he patted her leg gently._

_“You need to be warier of who to trust in the future. The Blue Lion is the friendliest and most accepting of the other lions. They are noble traits but you must not lead her astray like this again.” Allura added, surprising Lance._

_“Wait, so you’re saying you don’t want me to trust people then? Come on, I even trust Keith of all people!” Lance argued._

_“Thank you?” Keith raised an eyebrow but Lance ignored him._

_“Who are you to tell what Blue respects when you’re telling me to go against what she believes?" Lance crossed his arms._

_“That is not what I said! What I’m saying is that you need to be more careful.” Allura sighed, resting a hand on her temple before looking back at him. “Lance, I just want you to be aware how severe things would have been if we lost even one lion. Voltron is the universe’s only hope—”_

_“Again, thanks for reminding me how I royally screwed up.” Lance threw his arms in the air. “Hey, I wasn’t the only one that trusted Rolo and Nyma! Everyone besides Hunk did and I’m the only one getting burned for that?”_

_“Yeah, but you were the only one who had their lion taken.” Pidge added in while adjusting her glasses._

_“Lance, your problem is maturity. There were other ways to have treated the situation. That did not include allowing a stranger assess to the Blue Lion and luring you away from the rest of us.” Shiro sighed softly. “And this isn’t the first time it’s caused issues.”_

_“During your training sessions in the invisible maze you shocked yourself on multiple occasions because you refused to work with Keith because of your ‘rivalry’.” Coran chimed in._

_“In the past.” Lance waved him off, briefly glancing at Keith before he added: “Mostly.”_

_“You tried to kick that energy orb like a soccer ball and missed while we were fighting that gladiator.” Keith gave him a look._

_“Shut it, Keith.” Lance glared at him._

_“Come on guys, I think you’re being a little too harsh on Lance.” Hunk moved in before things could escalate. “I think being tied up was enough of a lesson.”_

_“Thank you, Hunk.” Lance replied, patting his shoulder. “You’re a true friend.”_

_“Fine, whatever.” Keith rolled his eyes. “But one more thing. What are you going to do when one of us can’t swoop in and save you from the trouble you get yourself into?”_

Lance gasped out as he jolted awake by the sound of an explosion near his head. He was back in the fray.  

“Lance!” Hunk sighed in relief. “You back with us?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m sorry…” Lance muttered, trying to get his bearings back. “Where’s Shiro? And Allura? Coran?”

“Shiro still hasn’t contacted us!” Pidge yelled as she shot down some fliers heading for Lance.

“Well what’s taking him so long? I don’t know how long I can keep this up before passing out again…” Lance groaned, his head going light as he doubled over.

“Lance?!” Pidge asked frantically.

“How bad were you hurt?!” Hunk yelled.

“I-I’m fine…” Lance closed his eyes and he let Blue pilot for them.

No he wasn’t. He could feel it and he knew the others didn’t believe him in the slightest. His breathing was labored now, and he could sense Blue pawing at the edge of his mind, trying to offer support and comfort. Though Lance could tell she wasn’t sure how to help her pilot in the heat of battle.

“Just get us through this Blue and we’ll be fine.” Lance forced a smile, kicking a box out beneath the pilot chair to pull out a bottle of healing gel. He applied the gel, gritting his teeth and wincing as it aggravated the wound.

Despite the earful he got from the others about being more mature and wary of potential threats, Lance hadn’t changed very much. He was always the first to say hello and welcome anyone that came their way, it was just the way he was.

Still, even so he just couldn’t shake this strange feeling he had in the pit of his stomach during this particular mission. It seemed like any other, finding another planet under the oppressive rule of the Galra, they go in, fight them and save the day. They had it down to clockwork.

There were several reports of Galra attacking different villages and they spent the way going back and forth to aid these people. That part was fine, until several alarms went off, reporting multiple attacks, and causing them to separate to handle each emergency.

Lance tried to shake the weird feeling but it was eating away at him. He couldn’t explain why something felt _wrong_ to him. The feeling only got worse when none of them could contact Keith.

“Keith…” A lump formed in his throat and his vision blurred. “We…have to…go back…”

“Everyone, fall back!” Shiro’s voice suddenly blasted through the comm, a faint sound of laser blasts echoed behind him.

“What…?” Lance was trying to process what he just said.

“Shiro, what’s going on?!” Pidge asked.

“Lance! Hunk! Pidge! Listen to me, you need to get out of here! The Galra have taken over the ship! Just go!” Shiro called out to them, his voice growing urgent.

“Not a chance…” Lance tried to argue.

“We’re not going to abandon you guys!” Pidge agreed.

“We’re coming in!” Hunk added in as the three of them went straight for the castle.

“No, stay back! There are too many of them for you guys!” Shiro tried to warn them just as the Galra forces began to attack the three paladins from the ground and the command ship.

The trio had to quickly maneuver out of the way and put some distance between them and the castle or else get shot out of the sky.

“We’re outnumbered and with Keith gone there’s no way for us to form Voltron…” Shiro said softly, his voice cracking a bit as he spoke Keith’s name.

“Then what do you except us to do?!” Lance snapped, gripping his hair in his fingers.

There was silence.

“Shiro?” Pidge asked timidly, dreading his answer.

They all knew what had to be done and it scared them.

“Come on man, you can’t expect us to just leave you guys like this.” Hunk pleaded.

“I’m so sorry.” Shiro finally said before taking a deep breath. “Allura open the wormhole.”

“We can’t get out of here but you can,” Allura said softly through the comm as she started the process to activate a wormhole. “I’m sorry we don’t have any more options…”

“Where are you?! Maybe we can come get you! It’s not too late!” Pidge begged, tears welding in her eyes. They couldn’t just leave them like this. She couldn’t lose her family, not again.

“Coran and I are barricaded in the command room with an army on the other side.” Allura explained, her voice strained as she went over the severity of the situation. “The Black Lion is injured and Shiro is fighting on foot as we speak, giving us the time to open the wormhole.”

“No! There has to be another way!” Pidge argued.

“You don’t have a choice!” Allura yelled but paused when she realized she was too forceful. “Pidge…all of you, please understand if Zarkon gets his hands on all five lions then we’re finished.”

“You three are the universe’s only hope.” Coran spoke up, “No pressure.”

Lance would have laughed under different circumstances but the lump in his throat grew. He wasn’t even sure if he could speak without his voice cracking. He couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Allura, Coran, Shiro and Keith on this planet.

This was a nightmare. 

“We’re not giving up on you guys…” Lance said softly, gritting his teeth as he kept his voice calm and steady. “We’ll be back, for all of you. You hear?”

“We hear you.” Shiro answered, a weak smile could be heard in his voice. “We’ll see each other again soon, I pro—”

Static suddenly filled Shiro’s comm and it went dead.

“Shiro!” Pidge cried out.

A loud thud started to echo from Allura’s comm. She and Coran began to speak frantically about the door. Lance looked away from the monitor before taking the controls back from Blue.

“I logged in your location. Stay low and keep each other safe.” Allura stated calmly, just as the blue portal activated in the sky high above them. “We’ll see each other again and for what it’s worth, good luck.”

The three nodded, quickly maneuvering past the enemy’s attacks as they made a break for the wormhole.

Lance looked around for any sign of Keith. That maybe by some miracle Keith would be able to make it through with them but all he could see where hundreds of Galra ships. Looking back up at the wormhole, Lance took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

It looked like the gang was back down to three.

He only hoped it wouldn’t be permanent.

They heard a loud crash through the comm and Allura’s signal went out.

Lance opens his eyes and sees they’re just moments from passing through the portal. Just then, in the corner of his eye he noticed a flash of red moving towards him. Hope flashes in Lance’s eyes.

Blue’s proximity sensors suddenly went off; Lance had moments to register a blue laser canon coming straight for them. There was no time to act, no time to dodge as the blast collided with Blue’s neck. The blast pierced through the hull effortlessly. Lance sat there stunned, unaware there was anything powerful enough to tear through the metal of a Voltron Lion. There was nothing he could do as he felt the familiar heat of an explosion rush into the cockpit and everything went black.

…

_Lance whistled to himself as he stood in the Launch Bay, holding a hose as he walked up to the Blue Lion. They had just returned from another mission and he took it to himself to wash her. “Gotta look our best while defending the universe, eh Blue?”_

_Lance grinned, hearing a rumble in agreement from the Blue Lion and he turned on the hose and started to rinse her off._

_“Lance, what are you doing?” Lance looked back and smirked when he saw Keith heading towards him._

_“Cleaning Blue, what else does it look like I’m doing?” Lance hummed._

_“You’re going to waste the ship’s water supplies. Why didn’t you just have her jump into a lake or something while we were still on planet?”_

_“Yeah, like lake water will get all this dirt and soot off her.” Lance rolled his eyes and gave him a look. Did Keith even know the first thing about hygiene? “Besides, you look like you need a bath yourself.”_

_Keith tensed when a wicked grin flashed on Lance’s face. “Lance, don’t—!”_

_“Too late!” Lance laughed as he turned the hose on Keith._

_Keith raised his arms to shield himself from the spray of water but it was no use, he was drenched from head to toe._

_“Oh, it’s on!” Keith cried out, stepping on the hose to before picking up a bucket of soap water near their feet and dumping it on Lance._

_After that the battle had begun. The two went back and forth, throwing soap, water, sponges, anything they could find until finally both slipped in the soapy water, falling onto their backs._

_They both looked at each other before bursting out into laughter and couldn’t stop for a long time. Lance smiled at him brightly. Keith returned the smile, his eyes barely visible through his damp bangs._

_Lance reached out to brush his hair away before stopping short when he was suddenly surrounded by darkness. He looked around wildly, trying to figure out where he was. He started to hear muffled voices around him and it felt like someone was dragging him but that feeling quickly went away when he realized he couldn’t hear Blue or the familiar hum in the back of his mind that told him she was with him._

_“Blue? Blue! Where are you?!” Lance called out frantically. “Keith! Anybody?!”_

_Then out of nowhere Keith and Red appeared in front of him. Lance took a step back and bumped back into Blue._

_“Keith?” He called out to him but he didn’t look up at him._

_Something was wrong._

_The Red Lion’s laser canon suddenly activated and fired. Lance’s eyes widened as fire filled his vison and the laser collided with the Blue Lion._

_Lance screamed and doubled over, gripping his neck as if he had been struck. Blue cried out from behind him and collapsed before going silent in Lance’s mind._

_Lance collapsed to his knees and shakily looked up to see Keith approach him and stop just feet away. He brushed his hair back from his eyes and Lance could see a flash of yellow as a small grin curled on Keith’s lips, revealing a set of sharp fangs._

_An unbearable pain suddenly ripped through Lance’s shoulder and he woke up screaming._

“Lance! Lance! Calm down! You’re safe! You’re with me, Pidge, in Green!”  Pidge yelled over his screams, holding him down when his thrashing started to reopen his wounds.

Lance couldn’t stop screaming, not until his voice went hoarse and the pain became too much it drained him of his remaining energy. He slumped back against the floor, barely able to anything but breath. Pidge just stared at Lance, stunned before quickly pulling out more medical gel to seal the wound but her hands won’t stop shaking.

"Pidge, what happened?! Was that Lance just now?! Is he awake? Is he okay?!" Hunk asked through the comm. No answer. "Pidge! Come on buddy, I need you to focus, please!" 

Pidge jumped, startled by Hunk’s voice before she tried to wipe her nose, careful not to get blood on her face. "I-I'm sorry. Lance...He just woke up and reopened his wound. I’m trying to do what I can to seal it.”

“Alright, alright. You got this Pidge. How’s he doing? How are you doing?” Hunk asked, concerned.

Pidge took a deep breath and looked over Lances wounds. His armor and helmet was scorched black and damaged but from the look of things it was what saved him from the blunt of the explosion. “Lance is out of it but he’s breathing. I’m not okay…but thank you for asking…”

“No problem, Pidge.” Hunk sighed, he couldn’t blame her. They were all scared. 

Lance’s head felt heavy and he could hear Hunk and Pidge talking. His eyes wandered and settled on Pidge. He opened his mouth to try to speak but his voice came out as slurred. 

“What’s wrong, Lance?” Pidge asked, gently taking one his hands, leaning down closer to try to make out what he was saying. It took a few times but Pidge finally got it. “Hey Hunk, Lance is worried about Blue...She's going to be alright, right?" 

"Let's just hope so." Hunk said after a moment.

"Where...?" Lance muttered, tasting blood in his mouth as he fought to stay awake. He really hated explosions.   

Hunk grit his teeth and he could feel Yellow try to reassure him through their bond. "She's still with us, Lance. She’s unconscious and Green is carrying her. We're not going to leave her behind alright? We won't give up on either of you." 

Pidge bit her lip; she wasn’t sure what they were going to do for Blue or Lance. They were both just too broken, it scared her, the thought of what would happen if they didn’t get them help in time. The laser nearly severed Blue’s head from her body and Lance was almost ripped apart from the explosion.

Green let out a soft rumble and Pidge forced a weak smile as she patted the floor. She appreciated Green’s efforts to comfort her.

Lance watched Pidge and squeezed her hand gently. Pidge looked down at Lance and her vision blurred when she saw Lance offer her one of his winning smiles even though the action pained him.

“We’re okay…” Lance whispered, closing his eyes and he muttered it softly over and over again as if trying to reassure himself.

He kept trying to reach out to Blue. All he could hear was static.

"Hey, how you doing, Lance?" Hunk asked.

Lance groaned weakly but raised a weak hand to give him a thumbs up. "Been...better. Getting stabbed…and blown…not how I saw my day ending…" 

"At least your humor hasn't taken a beating, huh Lance?” Pidge breathed out a chuckled and Lance hummed softly in agreement.

“But seriously, Hunk.” Pidge spoke up.  

“Yeah little buddy?" Hunk perked.

"This is pretty bad. We need to get Lance help. Blue too. I don't know how long I can stop the bleeding." Pidge replied, looking back down at Lance. He looked like he was going to pass out any second.  

"Alright, alright. Think, Hunk." He said to himself. “Where do we go, who do we ask for help? Where do we even go to repair a sentient robot lion? 

"Have you figured out where we are?" Pidge offered.

"Still working on it, we’re still traveling in the wormhole and I have no idea where Allura set it to drop us off. We lost contact before she could send us the coordinates..." Hunk took a deep breath, "Alright, you worry about Lance, I'll figure this out. We'll figure this out guys."

“…We’re still in the wormhole…?” Lance stared up at Pidge confused. “How did you get me in here…?

“Uh, it’s kinda complicated,” Pidge rubbed the back of her neck. “Green had to bite into Blue where the laser ripped through to seal her up so I could get you out since we’re still in the wormhole. She’s kinda the only thing keeping her together.”

Pidge winced, she didn’t mean to say that.

“Thanks Green…and thanks Pidge…” Lance muttered, smiling up at Pidge weakly as patted the floor before losing unconsciousness.

"Lance? Lance?! Come on stay awake." Pidge pleaded with him.

"Pidge what's wrong?" Hunk asked.

"I...Lance passed out but he's still breathing…we….He really needs help, Hunk." Pidge’s voice cracked. Tears welding up in her eyes. She couldn’t take it anymore, everything hurt. There was a knot in her chest like she was being ripped apart. "Why? Why did we leave them all behind?!" 

Hunk didn’t know how to answer that. He felt sick in his stomach for leaving them like that. But what could they do now? How were they supposed to save them? They didn’t even know where they were going!

Suddenly, the blue stream of the wormhole vanished. The only thing Hunk could do was stare at the blue planet in front of them. “Pidge. I know where we are now…”

“Where?” She asked, looking up at Green’s monitor and her jaw dropped.

“Home.”

…

_Lance was getting really tired of passing out. It just kept bringing up more memories reminding him how badly he screwed up. He had the feeling the universe just loved to torture him._

_“You know, something’s not right here…” Lance called to the others as the remaining Galra forces were starting to retreat. “Where’s Keith?”_

_After a quick scan it was clear to the team that he was nowhere in sight. None of them knew where he was._

_“I’m going to go look for him.” Lance added._

_“Everyone be careful.” Shiro reminded them. “Keith could have easily been baited away but let’s hope that’s not the case.”_

_“We’ll scan the planet for any traces of the Red Lion from orbit.” Allura added in. “We’ll find him.”_

_It took a while but Lance finally tracked Keith’s signal to some old ruins. He could see the Red Lion sitting just by the entrance of some sort of temple. He tried to contact Keith but got no answer. With another scan, Lance picked up Keith’s helmet somewhere inside the temple._

_Without hesitating, Lance made his way into the temple after informing the others where he was. There was a large staircase leading down into the temple. When he was halfway down he thought he heard Shiro try to tell him something, maybe something about not going alone, Lance couldn’t really make out through the static. He kept moving forward, hoping it wasn’t anything important._

_When he got to the bottom of the stairs he tensed, noticing Keith’s helmet lying on the floor._

_“Keith?” Lance called out, reaching down to pick it up before noticing someone standing at the end of the room._

_It took him a moment for his eyes to adjust but he quickly recognized the white and red paladin armor._

_"Yo, Keith! You dropped something!” Lance didn’t know why he was being so casual about this. Something in his gut told him something was very wrong. His suspicions were only confirmed when Keith flinched at the sound of his voice. “What are you doing here? Looking for treasure or something?”_

_"Lance…you need to go..." Keith muttered, his breathing sounded labored like he was injured._

_Red flags went off in Lance’s head but he couldn’t see any visible wounds from his far away. “Keith? You alright? You don’t sound so good.”_

_"Lance!” Keith hissed urgently. “Just go!”_

_“No! Not until you tell me what’s going on!” Anger flashed through Lance. He wasn’t going to let this go so easily. Something was really wrong. “You’ve been acting weird all week!”_

_“Just get away from me!” Keith snapped as he hunched over._

_“Why?! Why do you want me to go so bad?” Lance pleaded, he needed to know. He couldn’t understand why Keith wouldn’t at least look at him._

_“I don’t want to hurt you!” Keith yelled, his voice cracked as he finally turned to face him._

_Lance immediately froze at the sight of Keith’s face and just stared. This morning there had been a bruise on his face. Lance had given it to him with a lucky swing during a spar. Now it looked like it had somehow spread across his entire face. That wasn’t was scared him the most. It was the piercing yellow eyes staring back at him filled with so much fear and anger._

_It finally dawned on him, it wasn’t a bruise._

_“You should have run while you still could, boy.” A familiar cackle rang through the ruins as a flash of purple light shot towards Lance from behind Keith._

_Keith wasted no time as flung himself to shield Lance from the blow. Keith screamed as the blast knocked him down just a few feet away from Lance._

_“Keith!” Lance cried, trying to run to him when another shot barely brushed passed his side._

_The blast hadn’t made contact but it was enough to knock him back against the stairs leading up to the entrance. He looked up and saw the familiar druid standing at the end of the room, already readying another attack. Lance’s mind was reeling, not being able to process why Haggar was here of all places._

_“Lance! Get out of here!” Keith begged, gritting his teeth and clawing the ground like he was physically trying to restrain himself from attacking._

_“Not without you!” Lance yelled, trying to dodge another attack as he activated his bayard and shot back. Once Haggar was distracted, Lance picked up Keith and started dragging him by the shoulder to the stairs while offering cover fire._

_Keith was breathing heavily and looked like he was in pain but he did his best to keep up with Lance. Once they cleared the doorway Lance shot up at the ceiling hoping to trap Haggar at least long enough for them to get to their lions._

_“Look Keith, I don’t know what the hell is going on but we’re going to get out of here alright?” Lance assured him as he tried to get them as quickly as possible up the stairs back to the surface._

_“Lance, stop! It’s a trap! The others are in danger! Please, just leave me here!” Keith gasped out. “She’s already in my head! I don’t know how long I can control it!”_

_“Just shut it, Keith!” Lance yelled, perking when he spotted daylight nearby._

_“Why can’t you just trust me!?” Keith hissed at him._

_“And why didn’t you trust me?!” Lance snapped back, his voice cracking a bit as he looked him in the eye before an explosion up ahead drew their attention._

_The two paladins stood at the top of the entrance, stunned to see their lions were attacking one another. Lance could sense from Blue she was just defending herself and that something was seriously wrong with Red. Lance was so stunned the only thing he could think of was that he didn’t even know it was possible for the lions to act without their pilots. Then again apparently there was a lot he didn’t know as he glanced briefly at Keith._

_“Keith?” Lance asked concerned. “Keith you okay?”_

_Keith’s eyes were glazed over and he didn’t seem to be aware of his surroundings or able to hear Lance._

_“Hey, what’s wrong?” Lance tried to get through to him._

_Keith said nothing and calmly activated his bayard much._

_“Kei—” Lance choked out, cut off as pain suddenly erupted in his shoulder._

_Keith faced him, staring at him with cold eyes. Lance stared down at his shoulder, seeing the familiar red and white blade sticking through his shoulder. Another few inches and it would have pierced his heart. He looked back up at him as Keith effortlessly pulled out the blade._

_Lance stumbled forward, but somehow kept his balance. His eyes locked on his._

_He knows this is Keith, his rival, his friend, someone he cares about more than he’d like to admit but the eyes he was staring at were the eyes of a monster. Then, just like that, a light seemed to return to Keith’s yellow eyes. His blank expression morphed into one of confusion when he saw the blood._

_Hope flashed through Lance just for a moment has his knees went weak and he collapsed against him. A weak smile formed on his lips. Odd of him, since he just got stabbed by someone he cares about, but he couldn’t help it._

_Whatever Haggar had done to Keith he was still in there somewhere._

_“Lance? LANCE?!” Keith cried out frantically, seeming to realize what he had done as he cradled him in his arms._

_Yeah, he was still in there. Lance rested his head against his shoulder. Keith was yelling something at him but he wasn’t sure what, it was getting hard to think. Something about him being an idiot maybe and why he was smiling? He wasn’t sure if it really mattered._

_All Lance remembered saying to him was:_

_"It's not your fault..."_

...

Lance opened his eyes and his head felt hazy. It took his eyes a moment to adjust before he realized he was staring at a white ceiling. Looking around, he could tell he was in some sort of hospital room. Guess some things don’t change much across the universe. Same sterile white rooms.

Snoring drew Lance’s attention to the corner of the room. Hunk was fast asleep, mouth hanging open with a little drool on the corner of lips. On the table beside him where some flowers and empty bags of sweets. Lance didn’t think much of it until he noticed a bandage on his arm like Hunk had donated blood.

A blood bag hanging beside the bed confirmed Lance’s suspicions. He smiled weakly, reminding himself to thank Hunk later before noticing Pidge curled up under a blanket in a chair beside the bed. She looked so small he almost didn’t see her.

Pidge was facing the bed, her knees were pulled up to her face and glasses were smooshed up partly over her nose like she had fallen asleep waiting for him to wake up. As far as Lance could tell Pidge only had a few cuts and bruises but otherwise physically looked fine.

Lance nudged her foot with his hand, wincing when he accidentally pulled at the IVs in his arm.  

Pidge mumbled softly and yawned as she rubbed her eye. “Hunk, for the last time, there are no more cookies in the vending machine you ate them all…”

Lance couldn’t help but burst out laughing. One of those laughs that started out small but ended up with making your sides hurt. He immediately started to regret it when his ribs began to ache and his shoulder started to throb painfully.

Pidge bolted upright, startled by the noise and she quickly turned to stare at him. “Lance!”

He offered her a tiny grin while he tried to calm himself down. “Good morning to you too…”

“It’s night but whatever,” Pidge corrected before balling up her blanket and tossing it at Hunk. “Hunk! Wake up! Lance is up!”

“…No I want two bagels…” Hunk mumbled.  

“Hunk!” Pidge snapped.

“Wha…?” Hunk yawned, looking over at them before noticing Lance and he gasped. “You’re awake!”

“Yeah…Miss me?” Lance smiled weakly.

“Of course I did!” Hunk stood and quickly moved over to give him a hug, stopping halfway and awkwardly adjusting to hug Lance’s uninjured side.

“Where are we…? Looks like a hospital.” Lance muttered as he rested his head against his shoulder and returned the hug.

“Well, you’re not wrong, buddy.” Hunk smiled as he pulled away.

“Figures, but where is it exactly…?” Lance asked puzzled.

Pidge and Hunk stared at each other for a moment before Pidge got up to opens the blinds. It took a while for Lance’s eyes to adjust but he unmistakable recognized the Galaxy Garrison’s structure. Just past that in the sky was a single full moon surrounded by so many familiar stars.

Lance couldn’t stop staring, he just couldn’t. They were back home. After so long. How long has it even been exactly? Months? Maybe a year? Maybe more?

“You’ve been out for a few days.” Hunk explained. “It was complicated getting to where we are now. We had to figure out how to not get arrested and quarantined like Shiro was when he got back.”

“How? How did you guys do this?” Lance asked, looking up at them, his mind still reeling.

“Everyone on earth knows we’re here.” Pidge replied, adjusting her glasses. “And when I say everyone, I mean everyone.”

“Yeah, the news is still playing the stream of when we touched down.” Hunk added with a grin. “With so many people watching the Garrison couldn’t really cover it up. Pidge even gave a really touching speak about us, the Voltron Force and how we needed help.”

“I’m so proud of you guys.” Lance chuckled but groaned as his head started to throb.  

“Whoa, take it easy, Lance.” Pidge perked, helping him lay back down.

“You lost a lot of blood. You should get some rest.” Hunk added.

“I’m fine, I’m fine. Thanks for the donation by the way.” Lance smiled as he rubbed his temple. “Just trying to take things in I guess…Things are still kinda blurry…”

“It’ll come back, just give it time.” Hunk gave Lance’s shoulder a squeeze and Lance winced.

“I’m sorry!” Hunk blurted out, realizing he had touched his wound.

“No, no, it’s not your fault.” Lanced tried to explain before tensing as an image of Keith flashed into mind.

He cried out, doubling over in pain as he gripped his shoulder and he froze. Vividly remembering when the blade tore through his armor and into his shoulder. Hunk and Pidge were frantic, trying to talk to him, asking what was wrong but Lance couldn’t hear them.

“Keith…” Lance finally gasped out. “Where's Keith?!”

 It all just came rushing back to Lance, the mission, the temple, Haggar, Keith… Lance balled his hand into a fist. He breathed in sharply. He couldn’t remember what happened to Keith after he got stabbed. Just the battle and the wormhole. Where was he? Why wasn’t he there with them now? Why did he leave him behind?

Hunk and Pidge were trying to calm him, but it was just so much to take in Lance didn’t want to believe it was all somehow real. Part of him really hoping most of what he thought he remembered was just a hallucination. How badly the mission went, the Galra ambushing them, Keith somehow being a Galra.

It just didn’t make sense enough to be real.

He just wanted to believe so badly everything was okay but it wasn’t. Otherwise the others would be here now when he woke up.

If everyone had been here when he woke up there would have been more flowers on the table.

“Do you think Allura would like earth flowers?” Lance said softly, biting his lip as he tried to keep his voice even. “She always talked about those pink Altean flowers she missed so much. Maybe she could find something close to it here on earth…? She would have liked that…”

“Yeah, she probably would.” Pidge smiled at him weakly. “Shiro would have smiled when he saw you awake. You know, that warm and caring Shiro smile of his.”

“He would have been so proud of you guys, being able to get help from the Galaxy Garrison and get detained.” Lance laughed weakly. 

“Coran would have asked nonstop about the earth,” Hunk chuckled softly. 

“Yeah, maybe about the rain…” Lance said barely above a whisper. By then the others would have told him it barely rains in the desert but Lance would have promised to take him somewhere where it did. Maybe back at home, Lance thought, so they could meet his family.

“Even the space mice would have been happy to see you awake, buddy.” Hunk added in with a smile. “They would have jumped all over the bed, happy to see you wake.”

“Probably ask for food too…” Lance added.

“And Keith…” Pidge asked, her voice cracking slightly.

“Keith…He’d either be brooding in the corner or maybe he would have sat right next to you, waiting for me to wake up.” Lance breathed out softly. “He would have felt guilty for stabbing me, you’d guys would have already reassure him he was still one us no matter what and that…it wasn’t his fault.”

A sob escaped Lance’s lips. “It wasn’t his fault…”

Lance thought this would somehow make him feel better but all it did was make him feel very lonely. Now, they were all alone. A lump formed in his throat and tears started to blur his vision until he couldn’t hold them back anymore. He was so tired he didn’t bother to stop the tears.

Pidge quietly hugged his arm while Hunk rested his hand on Lance’s head. The three of them were silent as if this was the first time they were coming to terms with what really happened. As far as Lance knew, they were.

“Where is everyone…?” Lance breathed out, barely above a whisper. A small part of him hoped as if asking would make them all walk through that door. Keith, Shiro, Allura, Coran, even the space mice but they all knew that wasn’t going to happen.

Hunk and Pidge understood Lance knew they were all gone. What he was asking is what’s happened to them now. Where are they and how do they get them back.

“...What happened?” Lance looked up at them.

“Lance you need to rest...” Hunk sighed weakly but Lance could tell he was trying to be the adult here.

He could tell he was hurting. Pidge too and they were all trying so hard to keep it together. That’s not what they needed right now. Lance grabbed the two and hugged them tightly, ignoring the sharp pain in his shoulder. Pidge tried to choke back a sob and Hunk didn’t even try to hold back anymore as he embraced the two of them while the tears streamed down his face.

 “We’re going to get them all back.” Lance’s voice cracked as he fought through the tears before they consumed him. They needed to hear this. “You hear me? We’ll get them back home…”

The door of the hospital room was slightly ajar. Mrs. Holt stood just outside, having just gotten off the phone, having heard that both Hunk and Lance’s families would be arriving in the morning.

A small black and white dog stood by her feet, looking up at her curiously before nudging at the door, wondering why they weren’t going in. Mrs. Holt quietly shut the door to keep the dog from disturbing the three. She felt at a loss, unsure what to do or how to offer them any comfort.

This is the first she’s heard what had actually happened to them. While it all hardly made any sense to her it was clear that they had all been through so much together. It broke her heart to see them in such despair after losing so much. Though, she was supposed it was much better letting it out all than keeping it all in.

That she knew far too well from experience.

“Come, Jiyῡ.” Mrs. Holt said softly to the shiba inu as she turned away to head to the lobby to allow the three time to grieve alone.

She was familiar with this kind of grief when her husband and Matt had gone missing and again when Katie had disappeared without a word. Now it was for the best for them to find solace in each other. It seemed like they had a lot in store for them in the coming future and they were going to need this strength.


	2. A Step Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance can’t stop saying stupid things in the middle of sparring practice. Shiro drinks space sludge and it actually tastes better than he thought. Space sludge. Good for the soul.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've been working like crazy and the internet is working FOR ONCE so here's the new chapter!
> 
> A special thanks to @radioactivepeasant on tumblr for the headcanon with Coran being the first to see Shiro’s scars and some of the dialogue for their heart to heart, it’s a bit different, I added the space sludge and stargazing you will see what I mean but thanks so much for letting me borrow the idea!
> 
> And another special thanks to @acepalindrome for the Shiro coffee headcanon!

_One Week Earlier:_

Shiro walked into the wash room, face drenched in sweat from his early morning training. He stripped off each piece of armor and set it aside in a locker containing his casual clothing. He pulled off the black under-suit before he noticed his reflection in the mirror.

It was first time he’s actually had a good look of his reflection after the abduction. He’d normally avoid looking at himself until now.

Shiro hardly even recognized himself.

His completion had paled considerably and scars ran in all directions all along his body. His muscles were firm, a buildup of strength and mass he needed to survive in the arena. As it was, it was out of necessity. He depended on his strength and wit during his year in Galran custody.

The Champion, he was called. To earn that title, he needed to be stronger, faster than his opponents. Apparently, his body reflected in the mirror was the result of it.

Maybe, if the circumstances were different, he'd appraise them, be proud. Maybe show off to Matt if he was here with him now. The sudden thought of Matt turned Shiro’s cheeks pink. It caught him off guard before his expression sadden.

Matt. What would he think? Seeing him now?

He wasn’t the same person Matt remembered anymore, not really.

So much has happened to him since they’ve been separated. Shiro wasn’t even sure who his old self really was anymore. A part of him was even scared of what would happen if they met again. Would Matt fear him for hurting him or for what the Galra had done to him?

The man in the mirror looked like a stranger to Shiro. Seeing himself now, like this, it felt like he barely knew a thing about his body anymore. It was like he was wearing someone else’s skin somehow. Even though it’s been months, this body still didn’t feel like his own.

Shaking his head, Shiro turned away from the mirror and stepped into the shower.

He winced as the hot water came into contact with his more sensitive scars along his side. He clenched his jaw and waited as his body adjusted to the temperature. Three horizontal scars, a remnant of the battle with Haggar; not a battle he remembered fondly.

Shiro watched the water fall past his bangs lazily. This mind wandering to that fateful day that nearly ripped the Team Voltron apart for good.  

After being separated for so long from the others after the wormhole malfunction, Shiro almost died from the infection of the untreated wound. He was lucky to have been put in a healing pod when he did. It sealed the wounds and cleared the infection but the scars, now pale with age, still remained.

Shiro was just glad the team were more concerned about putting him in the pod than getting him in a medical jumpsuit. They practically shoved him in, still in uniform. Not that he minded. He’d rather not let the team see the dozens of other scars whittled all over his body.

He didn’t remember how he got most of them. Most of the, particularly the ones along his back, gave him a headache when he tried to remember it, or worst case scenario, terrible flashbacks that left him with more questions than answers.

So as far as the others knew, the only scars he had were on his side and across his nose. Though, that one he did remembering getting.

It was another match in the gladiator pit. His opponent had wielded a sword and sliced him across his face. Adrenaline was the only thing keeping Shiro going long enough to win the match. After that he nearly passed out from the pain.

He was well aware that their strike was meant to blind him. If he had been half a second slower he could have been and it would have been over.

He would have been dead. End of story.   

Shiro looked down at each scar for a moment. He had little recognition for each but he quickly had to close his eyes as his heart rate sped up. Just staring at them for too long caused him too much stress and anxiety.   

He took a deep breath and leaned his head against the shower wall. He let the warm and the sound of the water falling calm him.

Shiro could handle the anxiety well enough. What was harder to handle were the flashbacks. They had seemed to have gotten worse since the battle against Zarkon.

His mind kept going back to that day. The day Zarkon almost got his hands on the Black Lion. The day he almost won.

Shiro didn’t understand how Zarkon was able to get in his head and forcibly sever his connection with the Black Lion. At least, that’s what it felt like he did. Why else would the Galra insignias appear on all of Black’s monitors moments before she ejected him into space.

It was strange that Zarkon could take control so easily when Shiro and Black had the strongest bond between Lion and Paladin. Among the others, he had shown that he was able to sync up with his Lion and saw through Black’s eyes while they dropped in a blind freefall. When everyone else had failed the test, he succeeded.

Shiro just couldn’t wrap his mind around how their bond was broken down in a matter of seconds.

There could be something else behind what had happened.

Shiro had sensed Black trying to reach him before the connection had been broken. Perhaps it had something to do with Zarkon being the previous Black Paladin or because he carried the black bayard. There was still so much they didn’t know about the bayards, or even the Lions themselves.

Shiro consulted Allura on the matter once he fully healed but even she was at a loss for how Zarkon was able to manipulate the Black Lion so easily.

Now, what worried Shiro the most now was that if the Black Lion could be manipulated by Zarkon, could he, or any other powerful Galra, for the matter do the same to the other lions?

He shook his head; he’d rather not think of this anymore. He didn’t want to be in a foul mood when he joined up with the others for breakfast. So he pushed aside any more thoughts and doubts he had and silently finished rinsing himself off.

Shiro was in the middle of getting dressed and had been running a towel through his hair when the door to the washroom suddenly slide open. He immediately tensed, realizing he hadn’t put on his shirt yet. No one was supposed to be up this early.

He quickly turned back and saw Coran marching in, covered from head to toe in food goo. He was muttering to himself, irritated and did not noticing Shiro until he looked up and their eyes met.

“Oh! Shiro, my deepest apologies! I really should have knocked! There was a bit of a mishap with the food dispenser and—” Coran’s rambling came to a complete halt the moment he caught sight of Shiro’s scars.

Shiro remained frozen where he stood, unsure what to say. He watched as Coran’s eyes shifted from apologetic to concern and then to grim realization. It was not something Shiro was ready to face or talk about with anyone yet. Shiro silently slipped on his shirt and picked up his vest as he headed towards the door.  He could still feel Coran’s stare.

“Shiro—” Coran tried to say but was cut off as Shiro stopped to raise his hand.

“Not a word to the others.” Shiro said firmly and moved past him before Coran could say another word on the matter.

Shiro’s face remained stern until he heard the whoosh of the door closing behind him. He was relieved Coran hadn’t decided to follow him. Still, he didn’t stop until he turned a corner and he leaned against a wall for support.

He gritted his teeth and rested his palm on his forehead, trying to force back the memories rushing back to him. It took him a few moments to finally recover and he let out a shaky breath. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall. No one was ever supposed to know.

…

At breakfast, Shiro spoke to the other paladins normally as if nothing had happened. Shiro only glanced up briefly when Coran finally arrived but he said nothing to the royal advisor. Coran greeted them all warmly and, for now, seemed to be respecting Shiro’s wishes.

The rest of the meal was uneventful, save for Keith suggesting the team should come together to train in hand-to-hand combat before dinner. Shiro was interested in the change of pace and had no objections to the suggestion.

The day went by quickly and soon enough the team had established sparring partners.

It was decided Shiro and Hunk would be the first to go.

“Ready?” Shiro asked, fists raised, facing Hunk.

“Uh, ready as I’ll ever be...I guess.” Hunk replied as he put on his helmet. He raised his arms up reluctantly and sounded very unsure.

“Just picture me not as your friend but as your enemy.” Shiro replied as he shifted his weight from foot to foot.

Hunk perked but nodded, his expression turned serious and he straightened his stance. He knew Shiro wasn’t going to hold back so why should he.

“And begin!” Pidge called out, waving her glowing bayard to signal the start of the match.

Shiro wasted no time and charged straight for Hunk, robotic fist raised to strike. Hunk quickly activated his shield to block the mock punch, keeping his feet firm on the ground as he forced Shiro back.

 _Good_ , Shiro thought, shifting his weight to hold his ground.

He had to admit, Hunk was really durable. He may not be the fastest but definitely has great blocking skills. His balance was also rather exceptional, there was no way Shiro could effectively knock him over without leaving himself exposed to attack.

“Awww yeah, you go Hunk!” Lance hollered from the side lines.

“You can do this, Shiro!” Keith called out.

“No way!” Lance turned to Keith before yelling, “YOU GOT THIS, HUNK!”

Pidge glanced briefly at the two as they began to argue who would be the winner of the match. She rolled her eyes and ignored their bickering as she silently recorded and refereed the spar. It was amazing seeing Shiro and Hunk going at it. Based on their abilities, they were actually pretty well matched in strength, even with Shiro’s robotic enhancements.

It was actually a pretty fascinating to watch, with Shiro’s speed and more aggressive technic against Hunk’s slower but sturdier style.

Pidge jumped silently when Shiro’s robotic hand managed to break through Hunk’s shield but Hunk remained firmly on his feet. She had to admit, Hunk could take a punch.

Hunk quickly dodged another punch, moving just out of Shiro’s range. If this was a real battle he’d have to stay clear of the robot arm. His armor could only protect him so much from a hand that could melt through the hull of a Galra class space ship.

He couldn’t stay out of his range long. Shiro was smart and could easily adapt, change tactics to throw him off. So, Hunk needed to figure out a way to end this quickly.

“You can do this Hunk!” Lance cheered on for his best friend. “The Champion is GOING DOWN!”

Shiro gasped as a memory flashed before his eyes and fell to his knees. He barely noticed the air above his head whoosh as Hunk’s fist sailed over his head. Moments later, Shiro regained his senses and used his momentum to slide behind Hunk and stumble back a safe distance. He raised his fists to guard as Hunk turned to face him, stunned by how fast he avoided his move.

 _Gotta stay focused._ Shiro thought to himself as he took a deep breath.

Hunk studied Shiro’s style quickly during the fight. He was definitely more of a "get it done and go" fighter. Shiro’s style was confrontational and fast so he can just keep charging forward. So, if Hunk could time it right he just might able to find an opening to disable his arm and hopefully take him down in one go.

He saw his opening as Shiro lunged forward to strike him. Hunk quickly sidestepped just as Shiro’s fist barely passed his head. Then, without missing a beat, he reached out and grabbed his wrist and pulled his forward before kneeing Shiro in the gut. The force caught Shiro off guard and he gasped out as the wind was knocked out of him.

Hunk used this distraction, forcing Shiro to the ground, knee on his back to keep him pinned down before quickly twisting Shiro’s robot arm behind his back to render it useless.

The training room was completely silent until Shiro finally gasped out, “Yield.”

“Holy crow, I’m so sorry are you okay Shiro?!” Hunk panicked, quickly moving off of Shiro and helping him to his feet.

A grin flashed on Shiro’s lips and he started to laugh, pride beaming from his face. “Remind me to never get on your bad side, big guy. And I’m fine. You did an amazing job.”

Hunk perked up and sighed in relief, glad he hadn’t seriously hurt Shiro before he was suddenly tackled from behind.

“THAT WAS AMAZING!!” Lance cheered, spinning Hunk in a hug. “You took down Shiro! I knew you had it in you! You’re a BEAST, Hunk!”

“Heh, thanks.” Hunk grinned. “I honestly didn’t expect to win. Guess all that training paid off.”

“Great job, man.” Pidge gave him a fist bump.

“Now pay up, Keith!” Lance turned to Keith with a smirk.

“How about you against me. Winner takes all.” Keith offered with a grin.

“You’re on!” Lance laughed.

Now a battle between Lance and Keith was interesting to say the least. Keith was one of the fastest on the team, he and Pidge were pretty close when it came to speed. Though, Keith also strived for accuracy for each blow, regardless if he was using his fists or sword.

Lance was another story; he was taller so didn’t move as quickly as Keith but he made up his lack of speed by using his knees and elbows more than his feet and fists but despite that, he wouldn’t hesitate to punch someone. Though, probably Lance’s greatest strength was to distract and rile up the enemy.

 _One of his specialties_ , Pidge thought as she pushed up her glasses as they watched the match. They hadn’t even waited for her to signal for them to begin.

“Come on, Keith that all you got?” Lance smirked as a dodged a punch.

Keith said nothing, keeping his focus on his opponent before he quickly struck him but Lance countered by blocking the hit.  

“I barely felt that one!” Lance smirked before kicking at him. “This is supposed to be a spar, not a pillow fight!”

“That doesn’t even make any sense!” Keith made a face as he jumped back.

“Your face doesn't make sense!" Lance grinned.

“What does that even mean?!” Keith groaned loudly, very much wanting to punch the smirk look off of Lance’s face.

The Team watched the two go back and forth as they threw punches, kicks, dodged, ducked and rolled. The spar was actually very animated. The two of them were already sweating from the constant motion and even looked like they were getting tired but both refused to back down.  

“Lance sure knows how to rile Keith up.” Pidge noted as she used her camera to follow their movements.

“Oh definitely.” Shiro agreed, watching them thoughtfully.

“Kinda sounds like they’re flirting sometimes if you ask me.” Hunk brought up as he munched on an energy bar he brought with him.

Pidge and Shiro looked to Hunk before looking back at Keith and Lance, squinting at them as they both considered it.

"C’mon Lance, obviously you need to practice more," Keith smirked as he dodged another kick.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I NEED TO PRACTICE MORE. YOU NEED TO PRACTICE MORE." Lance snapped back.

“I don’t know. Maybe I could show you a thing or two.” Keith grinned rather playfully, even Lance looked caught off guard by the comment. Shiro and Pidge shared a look with Hunk and nodded.

Agreed, definitely flirting.  

"Oh I see. Trying to play me with my own game, eh?" Lance smirked, he couldn’t believe Keith would actually say something like that and mean it.

“Maybe.” Keith grinned, "I'm the one winning, here"

“Then you fight like a Galra,” Lance shot back before raising his fist to strike Keith. “Cos’ you’re going down!”

Keith immediately froze at his words and Lance’s knuckles collided with his nose, sending him crashing to the ground. Lance stared at Keith in shock, unable to comprehend what happened for a few moments. Their team mates stood at the sidelines, looking equally stunned.

“Keith?! Are you alright?! I didn’t mean—I thought you would dodge that! I—” Lance rushed to his side, wasting no time to help him up.

Keith groaned, gripping his face and Lance’s eyes widen when he saw the blood dripping from his nose and a large purple mark where his fist had collided with his face. “Oh, ow, um that doesn’t look so good, is it supposed to be that purple already?”

Keith immediately tensed and shoved Lance away to everyone’s shock before bolting out of the room.

“Keith!” Shiro tried to call out to him.

“Keith, wait, I’m sorry!” Lance chased after him, but by the time he got to the end of the hall Keith was gone. Frustrated, Lance punched the wall, “ARRGGHH! I’m so stupid!”

“Lance, calm down. It was an accident.” Shiro tried to reassure him, “Let’s just try to find him and make sure he’s okay.”

“Right.” Lance stood a deep breath.

“I’ll check the infirmary and get a kit.” Pidge called out as she ran past them, she shut off her camera and stuffed it in her pocket as she left the training room.

“And I’ll check the mess,” Hunk added in.

“Hunk,” Shiro gave him a look.

“Kidding! But I’ll give that wing a look.” Hunk reassured before heading out.  

“I guess I’ll check his room. He’s always spends his time there if he’s not in the training room.” Lance muttered to himself before he bolted off.

“He couldn’t have gotten far.” Shiro said to himself before following his friends.

…

After about an hour, their search came to no avail. They’ve search high and low with no luck. They regrouped briefly to go over where they haven’t search yet.

“We’re in a castle spaceship, in the middle of space, where could he have gone?!” Lance groaned loudly.

“Red’s still in the Launch Bay so it’s not like he left or anything.” Pidge added in.

“Red…” Shiro muttered softly before an idea came to mind. “Guys, I’m going to check one more place. You guys go wash up and head to dinner.”

“But—” Lance tried to argue.

“It’s alright, Lance. I’ve got this one.” Shiro rested a hand on his shoulder.

“Fine…but if you find him give him this.” Lance replied and slipped something into Shiro’s hand before the others could notice. “Good luck.”

Shiro nodded, watching the three walk off and just able to catch Hunk say: “Maybe he hid in the air vents.”

With that, Shiro made his way to the Launch Bay. When he got there, the Red Lion stood there in her usual spot, unassuming, but Shiro had a feeling his hunch was right.

“Keith? You in there?” Shiro called out. To his surprise Red let out a low rumble, a warning and Shiro knew he was on the right trail. “Keith, it’s just me. Can you come down and talk?”

Silence.

“You don’t usually storm off like this in the middle of a match.” Shiro noted.

Well, Keith had stormed out of the training room once when Lance had driven him crazy in the invisible maze as payback for the time Lance was in the maze. But Shiro had a feeling that something was different this time. He’d never seen Keith look so spooked before.

Another rumble, this time louder. Shiro knew this time Red was telling him to go away.

“Keith. I just wanted to check up on you.” Shiro sighed softly as he shifted his weight to one leg; he was worried Keith might have gotten a concussion or a broken nose. If that was the case, he needed to get it checked out. “Are you alright? Physically I mean.”

“I’m fine.” Keith finally called out. “Nothing broken.”

Shiro sighed in relief. He knew that tone, Keith was being honest but there was still something off about it. “Alright, that’s good…Now, you don’t have to come down, just close enough to listen to what I need to say.”

After a few moments of silence, the Red Lion lowered her head and her mouth opens just a sliver. Shiro patted her mouth gently before trying to look inside. He couldn’t see Keith well but knew he had to have been sitting on the floor.

“You aren’t angry at Lance are you?” Shiro sighed softly. It was just a feeling he had. If Keith had been angry he would have lashed out, then and there.

“It’s something else that’s bothering you isn’t it?” He paused before adding, “Something _scared_ you.”

Keith said nothing and just stared down at his reflection of his dagger. The purple splotch on his face had spread to his neck and cheeks and he didn’t know how to stop it. This was the first time his skin had changed in front of the others. He _was_ scared, he was always able to get it to go away before. Why wasn’t it working this time?

“Keith, please talk to me. Tell me what’s wrong…” Shiro said softly.

Keith gritted his teeth and winced when his fangs dug into his gums and he could taste the blood in his mouth. Shiro tried to talk to him again but Keith ignored him and gripped his hair tightly.

How could he tell Shiro, tell any of them what was wrong? What could he say if he had no idea what was happening to him?

Keith had been getting the nightmares since the fight with Zarkon. Nightmares of turning into a monster, fighting the others and there would be no way for him to stop himself. In some cases, he could just wake up screaming but if it was a really bad nightmare it would send Red on a rampage to try to get to him and protect him. It’d only happened once but trying to explain Red’s behavior was a nightmare in itself.

There were so many times these past few weeks that Keith could have brought up what was happening but the thought of the others knowing the truth scared him.

It wasn’t like Pidge revealing to everyone that she was a girl. Most of them already figured it out before she even said anything. There was no way any of them could even imagine that he wasn’t what they thought he was. How could he explain to them what was causing Red to go ballistic? How could they understand the feeling that your entire life was a lie and that you weren’t even _human?_  

What would they think of him? Call him a monster? The same monsters that tortured Shiro for an entire year. A small part of him wanted to believe he wasn’t.

He touched the red markings on his cheeks, similar to the markings Allura and Coran had. Keith suspected he was somehow part Altean. There were times where he’s tried to talk to Allura and Coran about Altea, keeping it casual so they wouldn’t suspect anything other than being interested in their culture. He’d try to ask more about the Galra and Alteans, trying to find a way to understand who or what he was. They didn’t offer any answers he was hoping for, not that he blamed them.

Keith closed his eyes and sheathed the weapon before tossing it as far away as he could.

Shiro heard the clang of the dagger hitting the walls. Red let out an unpleased rumble and Keith quietly apologized.

“Keith, please talk to me.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Keith.”

Keith opened his mouth to argue but knew Shiro could see through him and closed it. He curled up and rested his cheek on his knees. “What Lance said…it just took me back to when I was fighting Zarkon…You guys weren’t there but that’s what he told me. ‘You fight like a Galra.’”

“Why didn’t you tell me this?” Shiro asked, trying to understand why Keith never talked about his battle with Zarkon before.

“Guess its slipped my mind. Being separated and you almost dying just took priority I guess…Didn’t even remember it until Lance said it…” Keith said weakly before sitting up a bit to turn his head so Shiro could hear him better.

“Keith…”

“I know Lance didn’t mean anything by it. It still took me off guard to hear him say it…It was a good swing though, with better aim and focus Lance could have broken my nose.” Keith added.

Now Shiro knew that with Keith that was a compliment. He leaned against Red and looked up at Black, who was standing across the hanger.

“You know, Lance also caught me off guard when he called me ‘Champion’. I know he didn’t mean anything by it but it brought up some bad memories and I fell to my knees.” Shiro admitted, glancing back at Keith.

“Is that why you were able to dodge Hunk so quickly?” Keith perked up, now that he thought about it, it had been a strange dodge.

“I guess. I was surprised it worked out so quickly.” Shiro replied. “The match could have ended then and there.”

“Wouldn’t have even guessed anything was wrong.” Keith noted, resting his head on his knees. “Sounds like you need someone to talk to too.”

“I’m fine, Keith.” Shiro assured him. “Right now, I’m worried about you. So are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah, I just need to be alone for a little while…” Keith said softly.

“Are you sure?” Shiro replied, looking down concerned.

“Yeah…Can…can we just drop it for now? I’ll talk to Lance later. Just tell everyone not to worry about me. I’ll try to come for dinner.” Keith replied.

“Alright.” Shiro replied, standing straight and he looked up at Red and patted her lightly again. “Take care of him, Red, alright?”

There was a low grumble and Shiro knew she understood.

“Oh, and Keith? Lance wanted to give this to you.” Shiro added, almost forgetting and slipped something to him through the gap in Red’s mouth.

He perked a bit and watched as it fluttered in the air and slowly drifted to the floor. He snatched it out of the air before it could hit the ground. It was a bandage from the looks of it.

Keith couldn’t help but smile when he saw a little crude cartoon of Blue and Red on it. A light blush formed on his cheeks. It looked so stupid but a small part of him hated to admit he loved it. He ran a finger along the design and noticed some of the purple splotches on his hands were starting to fade.  

Keith chuckled weakly and Shiro smiled a bit. “See you at dinner then.”

“Yeah. See you…” Keith replied, before Red’s mouth close again and she stood back upright.

…

In the mess hall, Lance was a nervous wreck to say the least. He paced back and forth, waiting for Keith to just walk through the door and for things to be like they’ve always been. They’d bicker about stupid things and just have a good laugh about it in the end.

“If he doesn’t show, just give him time.” Shiro tried to reassure him. “Just try to calm down.”

“Oh, I’m calm, perfectly calm, can’t you tell?” Lance replied, motioning to himself before throwing his hands in the air. “What did you guys even talk about?”

“I just went to check on him, Lance.” Shiro sighed but could not clarify much to Lance’s dismay.

“Just give it a few minutes.” Hunk added as he took a bite of his food goo, “I’m sure he’ll come through that door any moment now.”

“I doubt Lance can wait that long.” Pidge hummed and offered the space mice some food goo.

“Arrrgh, I can’t take it anymore. I’m going to go look for him.” Lance replied, heading straight for the door before any of them could stop him. Not two steps after the door closed behind him, Lance nearly ran straight into Keith.

“Where are you going? Dinner already over?” Keith asked as Lance jumped back.

“What? No! I mean, I was about to go looking for you.” Lance stuttered.

“Oh,” Keith said and the two stood there for a moment in silence unsure what to say.

Lance perked when he noticed Keith was wearing a normal bandage over his nose. He felt a bit disappointed that Keith didn’t wear the one he gave him. “Um, so are you alright?”

“Fine.” Keith replied before sighing deeply. “Look, I’m not angry at you. Just caught off guard. It wasn’t your fault.”

“Still, I’m so sorry. I was stupid. I shouldn’t have said—”

“It’s fine, Lance. In a real fight, running your mouth like that would be a good thing.” Keith added, a light smile on the corner of his lips.

“So…are we cool?” Lance asked hesitantly before quickly adding, “And I promise to stop saying stupid things in the middle of a match.”

“We’re cool.” Keith nodded lightly, running his hand across his black bangs. “And thanks for the bandage. Wouldn’t be caught dead wearing it but I appreciate it.”

Keith blush lightly when Lance gave him that huge stupid grin of his. It was a bit unnerving but he smiled back at him. With that, Lance hooked his arm around his neck and dragged him into the mess hall.

“Hey guys, look who I found!” Lance practically beamed like a sun.

“That was fast.” Pidge noted as she made a mental note to look at the footage she took after dinner.

“We practically ran into each other.” Lance kept grinning and Keith was just thankful the bandage helped cover his growing blush. “I’m telling ya, rival, we’re connected.”

“Sure.” Keith rolled his eyes but couldn’t help but smile.

Shiro watched as the two sat down next to each other and dinner resumed as normal. A part of him just felt everything was going to be alright between them. 

…

_Two days before the ambush_

**_“Fugitive Prisoner 117-9875”_** _The alarms of the Galra prison ship blared._

Shiro woke up with a start, looking around in a panic and realized he was in his room and not in a Galra prison cell. His old serial number keep echoing in his head long after he woke. He gritted his teeth and gripped his head tightly, he wanted it to stop. His breathing was heavy and he couldn’t find it in himself to sleep anymore.

He wanted to train, to keep himself moving but his hands were shaking so much he couldn’t change into his armor.

He gave up on that notion and decided to walk the halls of the ship. He was in a daze as he walked barefoot on the cool white floors, not caring where he was going, he just couldn’t stay put. He needed to keep moving forward or else he’d feel trapped. Moving helped him not think about the ache in his scars.

Shiro was hardly even paying attention to where he was going until he nearly ran straight into Coran. Shiro looked down at him startled, “C-Coran?”

“Shiro! I didn’t expect you to be up this late. Was just up running some maintenance diagnostics and—” Coran explained before stopping the moment he noticed how visibly distressed Shiro was. He’s never seen Shiro look this…troubled, at least not since he walked in on him getting dressed. It didn’t even look like Shiro was even bothering to hide it anymore, “—It can wait, come with me.”

Shiro opened his mouth to argue but Coran was already dragging him towards the kitchen and sat him down on a chair before he could say a word. He sighed and watched as Coran tinkered around with a few ingredients, tossing them into what looked like a kettle.

Coran waited for a moment for the concoction to heat up before pouring out a cup and setting it in front of Shiro. 

Shiro stared at the cup. It was filled with…something. “Um…Coran, what is this?”

“An old Altean treat good for helping calm the nerves.” Coran beamed as he tugged on his moustache. “You see; my grandfather knew just how to make the perfect cup! Hopefully I do him justice. Best thing to drink when you’re feeling down.”

Shiro stared at the strange concoction in the cup. No disrespect to Coran or his grandfather but he wasn’t sure if he could drink this. It had an odd smell and it was a questionable shade of dark brown and looked a bit purple in the light and was it… glittering?

“So…something like tea then?” Shiro asked, picking up the cup, noticing it slushed heavily. It was looking more like sludge by the second. The color and the sparkling glitter just made it look like he was holding some kind of failed art project.

“What’s T?” Coran looked at him puzzled.

“Boiled herbs, flowers or tea leaves basically, mixed with sugar, honey or anything else you want to add to it to make it taste sweet. Though, that’s only if you prefer to drink it like that.” Shiro explained, staring down at his cup. Now that he took a better look it looked like space in a cup.

“Used to drink it while I went in training with Matt and Commander Holt since we weren’t allowed to drink coffee anymore. Too much caffeine. Matt’s favorite tea was mint.” Shiro said fondly.

“You’ll have to show me one day.” Coran smiled. He didn’t quite get the concept of the drink with all the human terms but was curious none the less. “Now drink up.”

“Thanks and definitely. I’ll brew you some if we ever drop by Earth.” Shiro smiled a bit sadly but decided to drink it anyway.

He made a face at the drink. It had a strange texture, not as thick as it looked. It had an unusual sweet taste, sort of like vanilla with something almost bitter in the after taste. It actually reminded him a little like hot vanilla instead of hot chocolate. It was still weird to look at with the glitter and purplish/black color. Strangely enough, Shiro found himself finishing the whole cup.

“Thanks Coran…it’s different, but good.” Shiro was still going to call it space sludge.

Coran grinned widely before pouring him some more. Shiro drank it slower this time. Judging the taste thoughtfully. He wasn’t even gonna ask what this was made out of but it did make him feel better. It made Shiro smile a little, Coran was right it did calm him down. It also made him feel a bit nostalgic. The weird vanilla taste reminded him of earth, though, he doesn’t think he’s ever tried hot vanilla before.  

“How are you feeling now?” Coran watched him thoughtfully.

“Better I suppose.” Shiro replied honestly as he set the cup down. Though he tensed and sprang from his seat when he felt the ship shake. “What was that?” he asked, alarmed.

“Oh, nothing to fear, Shiro! The ship has to travel close to an asteroid field due to a sudden space storm. It’s quite alright, the ship’s shields are up. Can’t hurt us one bit.” Coran explained, looking disappointed that the noise spooked Shiro. So much for the calming T, Shiro was talking about.

Shiro nodded slowly but didn’t sit back down. Coran gave him a weak smile before standing up himself.  “Shiro, join me for a walk.”

“Didn’t you say you had work to do?” Shiro perked, straightening up a bit. “I don’t want to keep you from your duties.”

“Nonsense, come along now.” Coran motioned for Shiro to follow him.  

Shiro sighed but followed him none the less and was surprised to see Coran had lead him to the observation deck. Outside the window he just managed to catch sight of the asteroid field Coran had been talking about. Like he said, the shields were keeping them save from the small bits of debris drawn quickly in by the ship’s gravity.

“They look like shooting stars.” Shiro smiled fondly, “On earth there’s a tradition if you see one you make a wish since they’re rare.”

“Oh? This calls for us to make a wish then!” Coran grinned. “Take your pick!” he said as he gestured to the countless bits of debris burned up before hitting the shield.

“Alright.” Shiro smiled at his enthusiasm and closes his eyes to make a wish.

Coran watched him before following his example. “I wish everyone will be happy and for there to be peace in the universe once again.”

Shiro smiled as the wish and chuckled, “You know, there’s a superstition that if you say your wish out loud it won’t come true.”

“Oh,” Coran sounded defeated and Shiro immediately regretted saying that.

“It’s just a saying! It can be fixed as long as I tell you my wish. It should be fine!” Shiro said quickly.

“Oh! Then what was your wish?” Coran’s eyes light up and he smiled.

“I wish to find Matt and Commander Holt…” Shiro said with a weak smile, surprising Coran. “I know I was cold before. Saying the mission had to be first priority but I want to find them just as much as Pidge. It eats away at me that they could be on a slave planet like the Balmara and here I am, doing nothing to find them.”

“I’m sure we will find them one day.” Coran said calmly and rested a hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah, maybe someday…” Shiro said, though he wasn’t very hopeful. There were millions of planets out there under Galra control. How would they even start looking? Pidge’s one lead would only be able to take them so far.

“You don’t talk about them often.” Coran noted, “There are a lot of things you don’t talk about.”

“I don’t want the others to worry.” Shiro said softly, looking away.

“Shiro, if they even knew a fraction of what I can see just by looking at your face they’d have every right to be worried.” Coran said softly, watching him concerned. “You can’t wear this mask forever or you’ll end up breaking.”

“I’ve been broken for a long time.” Shiro finally admitted, laughing bitterly, “Fugitive Prisoner 117-9875”

Coran raised an eyebrow; he didn’t understand and waited for clarification.   

“Those numbers were the only name I had for a year, besides in the arena where I was called Champion.” Shiro explained, he sounded exhausted. “Not sure if that was better with what I had to do to stay alive…”

“Your scars. They were from the arena?” Coran asked and Shiro was wondering when he’d finally bring them up again.

“Some of them. Probably.” Shiro admitted, glancing down at his arms.

“Your memories are still unclear aren’t they?” Coran noted.

“Yeah…Others could have been from experiments and when I got this.” He raised his metal arm before dropping it to his side, “Thank you for not telling the others by the way…”

“It’s not my place to tell them.” Coran said, but Shiro knew what he was implying.

“I can’t tell them.” Shiro looked away pained. The two were silent for a moment.

“You know, when war broke out on Altea it took time for our people to adapt to the change.” Coran said, causing Shiro to looked up at him curiously. “The constant conflict took a toll and cause a lot of strains and scars, physical and mental. Eventually, scars became a symbol of strength, bravery and survival.”

“Is that so?” Shiro couldn’t help but smile just a little at that.

Allura had mentioned Alteans were a peaceful race. It must not have been easy being plunged into war by the previous Black Paladin, the man sworn to protect them and the rest of the universe.

“Well, some of these scars were just painful reminders. Of people I had to take down in the arena, some prisoners like me that just wanted to live another day,” Shiro muttered softly, clenching his fist before his voice grew until he started to shout. “Just hoping that we could somehow return to the life we came from, many of us knowing deep down that we were all going to die there and no one would ever know. So far from the people we loved that at some point we didn’t even know what was the point of living anymore!”

Shiro let out a pained gasp before collapsing to his knees, unable to stand anymore. He tensed when he realized what he just said. Coran quietly knelt down beside him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Shiro said nothing, unsure if he would be able to speak.

 “You’ve sound like you’ve been holding this in for a long time, my friend.” Coran finally said. “Why haven’t you tried to talk to anyone about this?”

“The moment I got to earth I was detained. Treated like an enemy and put under. The next I’m rescue before being flung back onto space to become a defender of the universe. Where’s the time?” Shiro laughed bitterly. “Pidge and the others, they’re just kids.”

That was only part of the reason Shiro couldn’t speak to them about this. He didn’t want to burden them. Or make them think they couldn’t rely on him as leader. He needed to be strong for them. Pidge, she looked so much like Matt that it hurt. He left him behind in that hell with the Galra.

“Perhaps, but I think you’ve forgotten that you are still quite young yourself? You’re not that much older than them, are you?” Coran tried to reason.

“Maybe but I still need to be the adult for them. None of them have their families here or someone to guide them up here.” Shiro muttered softly, his vision becoming clouded by tears he’s refused to let fall for more than a year and a half.

“Y’know, you’re awfully good at being the strong one, and taking on the burdens of your team.” Coran said, gently rubbing Shiro’s back and offering him a gentle smile. “But how about, just for a little while, you let someone else be the adult for a change?”

Shiro perked a bit his words and looked away, back up at the observation deck to the small asteroids bits collide against the shields. He watched them until his vision blurred, going out of focus and he could feel the tears he’s held in so long finally start to fall like the stars.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again thank you @radioactivepeasant and @acepalindrome for letting me borrow the headcancons! 
> 
> I have the next chapter almost done should be about a week before its done!


	3. Burning Inside

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith is not okay. Neither is Shiro. You know what? No one is okay.

The first time Keith changed was when the team had been separated after the battle with Zarkon.  The memory of Zarkon saying: “You fight like a Galra,” was still fresh in his mind. By the time Keith finally came to after going through the compromised wormhole, he found himself on an unknown planet.

He did his best to stayed calm and tried to contact the others but the Red Lion had yet to regain power. Typical. Now he needed to access his situation. The first thing he did was search Red’s interior. He found a hidden compartment under his piolet seat, containing a healing kit, inside were packs of healing gel, and a care pack filled with energy bars, homemade snacks and several odd green cubes.

Keith picked up one of the cubes and examined it curiously. After smelling it, he realized it was food goo. He briefly wondered how it was made into cubes before setting it back in the case. Keith picked up the note he found on top of the package.

 _“Just in case you guys get hungry- Hunk.”_ Keith read aloud as he lifted up the note. _“Ps-Good luck out there and try not to die.”_

He couldn’t help but smile at the small doodle of the yellow paladin on the note. Keith made a mental note to thank Hunk the next time he saw him. If he saw him. Keith shook his head at the thought before he flipped over the note and found another message on the back.

_“PSS-Sorry I ate all the good energy bars.”_

After doing inventory, Keith found that care pack would only last him a few days, a week if he rationed it. Water was his main concern. Keith knew it would not last for more than a couple of days. He already drained one of the packages. He needed to collect more provisions. There was no telling how long he would be on his own.

Everything was fine until he had made his way to a nearby river and knelt down to take a drink. He should have realized something was wrong from how quiet it was by the river but he had been too focused on checking if the water was safe to drink. He took off his helmet and set it down on a rock beside him after the scans told him that it wasn’t contaminated and leaned over.

His shadow barely touched the water when something grabbed him and pulled him under. Keith couldn’t even scream as he plunged beneath the water. Panic rushed through him as water filled his mouth and nose as he struggled in the creature’s grip. He felt as its teeth punctured his armor and screamed.

He fought against the creature and held whatever breath he still had, desperately trying to get out of its jaws as it started to send them into a roll. He only caught flashes of teeth and multiple eyes as he weakly attempted to kick at the creature’s thick hide. His vision quickly began to darken and he tried to reach for his bayard but it was no use. Everything was starting to go black. As he stared up at the sun as it shown through the water, his thoughts went to his friends and his life began flashing before his eyes.

That’s when he felt the anger surged though him, the same kind of anger he felt when he fought against Zarkon on his own. He wasn’t going to die, killed by some animal or by his own stupidity.

Something primal woke in Keith and he sunk his teeth into the creature, biting down as hard as he could that he tasted its blood in his mouth. He ignored the urge to gag and kept biting down, his teeth elongating into fangs and sunk deeper into the beast. Keith started to tear out chunks and the creature started to shriek.

Keith felt the tips of his gloves rip as his fingers turned into claws and he sunk them into the creature’s hide. It started to thrash but Keith refuses to let go, it still had him in its mouth. He wasn’t going to die there. The creature breached the water and Keith had a moment to breath in much needed air before they went down under again.

His tightened his grip around the creature until he heard a crunch and it finally went limp.

Everything was a blur after that. He must have dragged himself out of the water. His mouth tasted like blood and rotten flesh. He doubled over, coughing up and hurling water, blood and bits of flesh from the creature. If he had any food in his stomach he suspected that he would have thrown that up as well. After a while he laid on the ground, shaking violently as he tried to recover from his brush with death.

When he finally managed to calm down he noticed everything around him was too bright. It hurt to even look at his armor. For the most part it had taken most of the damage from the creature; save a few holes that punctured his armor but the wounds weren’t deep enough to hit anything important, at least he hope so.

Other than the burning in his lungs, the pain to light and the aches all over his body, Keith was surprised the damage hadn’t been worse. Much worse.

Keith was just starting to calm down when he noticed something was wrong with his hands. They were sharp and pointed, sticking out of his gloves and covered in blood. He was mortified and quickly went to the water to wash them off when he finally saw his reflection.

_You fight like a Galra._

Keith immediately reached for his face, feeling the damp purple fur on his face.

_Fight like a Galra._

He opened his mouth and touched his fangs. They were as sharp as blades and still dripping with blood _._

_Like a Galra._

Hands moved to touch his pointed ears and red markings on his cheeks.

_A Galra._

He couldn’t look away from those piercing yellow eyes.  

_Galra._

The reflection screamed, sounding like a strangled animal until he passed out. The next thing Keith knew he was laying inside the mouth of the Red Lion. He could feel her in his head, a comforting, curious presence. Keith could tell she was happy he had finally come to before the memories came crashing back. He bolted up, looking for the closest reflective surface.

He stared at himself and he was human. Pale skin, dark purple irises, human ears, human teeth. He looked normal. A small part of Keith hoped what he thought he remembered was a twisted nightmare but he couldn’t ignore the damage to his armor or the holes in his gloves, his pale fingertips exposed before he made a fist and held it to his chest.

Sometime later when Keith reunited with Lance, he had asked if his ripped gloves were a “new style”.  Keith had to suppress the urge to either hug or punch him. Lance chose for him and trapped him in an embrace, rambling on how glad he was to see him alive and asking if he was okay.

It hit Keith hard and he almost broke down in Lance’s arms then and there. In that moment he wanted to tell him everything but he held his tongue and returned the embrace. It was strange. This was the first time Keith had ever heard Lance admit out loud he was actually happy to see him.

…

The second time he changed was after the team had been reunited but before Shiro had woken from his coma.

Keith was in his room alone and had woken up from another nightmare, that same creature had him in its clutches. He could feel the burn of his lungs, the ache of his body as he was twisted around until there was the taste of blood in this mouth. He saw his reflection in the water and woke up screaming.

He had the dream so frequently that he had to tell the team about the attack, he just excluded the part with him becoming a Galra to escape. Keith only told them he didn’t remember what happened after he hit the water and assumed Red came back online and came to help him. It was enough for them to believe.

The dreams came to him almost every night but this night had been different. Keith had awoken with the urge to vomit and ran to his personal bathroom. The moment he looked up at his reflection in the mirror he was staring at piercing gold eyes.

His eyes were the only thing that had changed this time and he started to scream until he started to hear muffled banging from the other side of the ship. He didn’t understand what was going on until Allura comm. him to say that the Red Lion was going ballistic, in the hanger where the lions were kept.

When Keith looked up in the mirror his eyes had turned back to normal and without wasting a second he ran straight to the Launch Bay.

By the time Keith arrived, the others were already there, not daring to go past the hanger doors. Keith ignored them and ran straight past them, despite their warnings it was too dangerous. When Keith got in there, he was nearly crushed by the Blue Lion as she landed in front of him, having been thrown off by Red.

The other Lions were uneasy, trying to calm their comrade. The Black Lion was still unresponsive but appeared to be unharmed as the Yellow, Green, and Blue Lions placed themselves between her and Red in case her rampage accidently harmed Black.

No matter what the other lions did, Red didn’t stop, not even when the Yellow sat on her in an attempt to keep her from hurting herself or from damaging the ship. Red didn’t stop struggling until she had Keith in her sights.

When the others finally came into the Launch Bay they were met with the sight of Keith sobbing hysterically on the ground, the Red Lion curled up beside him, offering what support she could.

The team had been at a loss for words, they had never seen Keith so distressed it had effected his lion.

They didn’t know what was wrong or what to do. The next day, Keith refused to leave the Red Lion. They could only assume that Keith was just taking his near death experience and Shiro’s coma very hard and they did their best to support him.

…

A few days later Keith found himself sitting in front of Shiro’s pod one night. He didn’t know where else to go as he stood in front of his comatose friend, a hand on the glass, careful not to touch anything that would shut off the machine.

“Please, you need to wake up Shiro…It’s happening all over again. I feel so lost and confused like back when I heard you were gone…”

That entire year was a nightmare for Keith. He looked back up at Shiro and let out a shaky breath. “At first I couldn’t believe you were gone but the first day I went back to class I went to the mess hall for breakfast and you weren’t there…in your usual spot, by the corner…”

Keith clenched his fist before remembering something small but he couldn’t get it out of his head now. “…and neither was Matt. I remember you two were really close, you said practically since you met at the Garrison.” Keith didn’t know Matt well, only what Shiro told of him really. For the most part, they had just been acquaintances of Shiro while they were at the Garrison and they hardly ever spoke other than politely greeting one another.

Still, it was odd but whenever he found himself missing Shiro he would remember Matt. Shiro spent a year as a prisoner and a lab rat, who knows what even happened to Matt. They might have never gotten the chance to know each other well but Keith still found himself missing him.

It could have been because of Pidge; so determined to find their missing family. Keith knew he had been harsh when he said that Voltron and the mission came first. Pidge understood that now but sometimes Keith just wanted to apologize for what he said. It could have also been the quiet acknowledgment Keith and Matt shared when passing each other.

Towards the end of the first year at being in the Garrison, Keith had remembered running onto Matt while he was with a group of his friends. They shared a quiet acknowledgement like they usually had but as Keith was leaving he overheard one of Matt’s friends speak up.

"Hey, how do you know that edgy looking freshmen?"

There words didn’t necessarily bother Keith. Just the way it had been said. He could hear the unspoken, _“Why waste your time on that guy?”_

To his surprise Matt responded back politely. “He’s a close friend of Shiro. It’s been like this all year for us really. I don’t mind I just kinda wish we could talk more but he seems to be more comfortable around Shiro so I want to give him space.”

Keith never realized Matt felt like that. At most he thought he just acknowledged his existence. He remembered Shiro would sometimes try to get them to interact more but it got harder after they had begun to prepare for the Kerberos mission. Keith had to admit he’d sometimes felt left out because of this but said nothing. Matt was Shiro’s friend just as much as he was.

 _I just don’t have anyone else._ Keith often found himself thinking.

Shiro was one of the only people he had considered as family growing up. Shiro’s family had taken him when he was a kid in but now it was just two of them. Keith pushes aside any linger thoughts of Matt or his and Shiro’s family. Thinking of them made his crumbling emotions feel worse than they already did.

“Shiro…I…I don’t know what to do anymore…There’s something I need to tell you…and the others. Something important but…I’m scared…” Keith admitted as he gripped his dagger tightly in his hands, eyes on the wrapped hilt.

“I…I know I can’t just run away like I did before…I had no one else back then.” Keith took a breath, feeling tears tickle the edges of his eyes. They weren’t alone. Not anymore. “…now I have all of you guys and you all need me…I can’t run away from this…I won’t but…”

Keith briefly looked at the dagger in his hands before letting it drop to the floor and he let out a choked sob. “Please…just wake up…” 

“Keith?”

Keith tensed, feeling a hand on his shoulder and he looked back to see Lance standing there. He didn’t know how much Lance heard, it was hard to say.

Without a word, Lance knelt down beside Keith and embraced him. Keith was stunned by the display of affection. He didn’t understand why Lance was being like this. No jokes, no playful jabs, no smiles, just the concern in his eyes for _him._ It was not something Keith was used to.

He wasn’t sure how to feel about it, he just rested his head against Lance’s chest and loosely wrapped his arms around his back.  

“He’s going to be okay, alright?” Lance said softly, hesitating for a moment before running his hand against Keith’s head.

Keith said nothing and didn’t object to the touch as he closed his eyes, hugging him tightly.

“On another note, were you like this when I got blown up?” Lance looked down at him with a small grin.

Keith knew it Lance wouldn’t be able to hold back a joke but he laughed shakily. “You wish.”

Lance grinned, glad he at least got Keith to laugh. It was something. “Maybe. But seriously. I know I’m not the most serious of guys but if you ever need to talk or a shoulder to cry on or whatever I’m here, alright?”

Keith was surprised by the gentleness in Lance’s voice and the sincerity in his words. He gently gripped Lance’s sleeve gently and nodded. He couldn’t trust his voice at the moment and he closed his eyes.

The next thing Keith knew he was in his room alone. A part of him wasn’t sure the moment he shared with Lance even happened but he noticed a thermos sitting on his nightstand with a small note beside it. He picked it up and read it over.

_Not as good as Coran’s but I tried. Enjoy, Sleeping Beauty!_

_-Lance_

  1. _Shiro’s going to be just fine you’ll see. We’re all going to be okay._



Keith made a face at the nickname and his cheeks flushed when he realized he had fallen asleep in Lance’s arms. The only thing that made it worse was that Lance must have carried him all the way back to his room. Lance was never going to let this down.    

Sighing softly, Keith picked up the thermos and took a sip. He recognized the familiar vanilla taste almost instantly. It was a bit stronger and the aftertaste was even worse but there was no mistaking it: space sludge. 

Despite the overwhelming taste, Keith found himself drinking the whole thing. He was glad it still had its calming effect. His cheeks were still flushed as he curled up back in his bed. He needed to remember to thank Lance when he got up later and steel himself for the endless teasing that was sure to come.

To his surprise, the next morning Lance didn’t make a big fuss over what happened like he thought. In a way, it had become a little secret between them, an understanding.   

…

The day of the before the final mission at dinner, Keith felt the calmest he had been in a while. From his near death experience, Shiro’s coma and the incident during his spar with Lance, the entire team had been very understanding to him.

Keith appreciated their support and during the meal he watched the others thoughtfully. Lance and Hunk were telling Pidge a story from back in the Garrison; a prank Lance had dragged Hunk into. Keith vaguely remembered hearing something about one of the instructor’s rolling chairs getting superglued to the floor.

The instructor had almost fallen from their chair when they tried to move it closer to his desk and almost burst a vein trying to pull it off the floor. The culprits were never found even when a search of the surveillance cameras outside the classroom yielded nothing. Who knew they were here all along. 

Keith contently listened as Lance went on before stopping when he noticed Shiro and Allura were talking strategy and future missions.

“Hey, no work at the table guys.” Lance crossed his arms. “You guys ever _try_ to have a conversation like normal people?”

“And what do you consider a normal conversation besides humiliating your former instructor?” Allura gave him a look.

“Hey, that prank was classic.” Lance argued and shrugged a bit. “You’d be laughing too if you knew how much of a hardass he was. Anyway, as I was saying, my family always had crazy stories to tell during dinner. None of them had anything to do with planning out battle strategies or tactics.”

“So, what is your family like then?” Pidge asked curiously before eating a spoonful of space goo.

“Loud, obnoxious, everyone talking over each other at the table to tell whatever happened to them that day.” Lance sighed a bit dreamily as he rested his hand on his chin. “It was perfect.”

“Sounds a lot like my family too.” Hunk laughed, feeling a bit nostalgic. “I have two younger siblings, a brother and a sister. Before I moved to the Garrison dinner was pretty lively. They’d always want to tell us what cool new thing they learned at school or something they found while exploring. It was nice.”

“Nice,” Lance grinned widely, “What about you Pidge?”

Pidge smiled while stirring their spoon in their food.

“Matt and dad always liked to talk about their research and work, something new they discovered they were so excited to tell us. Mom always had to remind them to stop every now and then to eat before their food got cold.” Pidge chuckled softly, a sad smile on their face before shaking it off. “What about you, Allura, Coran?”

“As Royal advisor I usually joined the family for their meals.” Coran spoke up, stroking his mustache. “As a child, Allura often insisted that I was part of the family. No one objected.”

“The meals tend to be a lot more formal than what all of you have described. Still, it sounds pleasant to spend time with family like that.” Allura said with a small smile.  “How about you Keith? Shiro?”

“I didn’t have any family besides Shiro and his folks.” Keith admitted, twirling his spoon absently in his hands. “Dinner was pretty quiet though, but the good kind of quiet.”

The room was quiet and Keith perked up and looked over at the others. He didn’t expect to see the surprised look on their faces. He quickly realized he’s never really talked much about his past. He suddenly felt a bit self-conscious and looked to Shiro and nodded for him to explain.

“My family and I went to a trip to Korea when I was a kid and we came back with Keith. He was about 2 when we brought him home.” Shiro continued with a small smile. “Like Keith said, dinner was a quiet time for us to spend time together. Though, it’s just us now. My parents died not too long after I joined the Garrison. We’re pretty much all the family we have left.”

“Not anymore.” Keith brought up, surprising the others again. What he had said to Shiro while he was in a coma was still fresh in his mind. “We have you guys now, right?”

“Oh geez, Keith you’re going to make me bawl.” Lance sniffed a bit, “When did you get so sentimental.”  

“That’s a wonderful way of seeing this, Keith.” Allura said with a kind smile before looking to the others. “Now that we are in this together, we are a family.”

“Okay, now I’m definitely crying.” Hunk sniffed loudly before hugging Keith and Pidge, bawling loudly.

Lance immediately clung onto Keith’s free arm, pretending to bawl as loud as Hunk. Everyone burst out laughing while Keith shrunk down in distress. Soon enough, Keith couldn’t help but start laughing with them, feeling the happiest he’s felt in a long time.

Keith stole a glance at Lance, noticing a few real tears at the corner of his eyes. Without anyone noticing, Keith gently wiped them away with his thumb, surprising Lance. Keith said nothing and just smiled at him and Lance smiled back.

Now a days Keith has felt something _strange_ between him and Lance, they were getting closer in their own odd way. Not that Keith really mind, he was actually starting to enjoy his company.  Lance got on his nerves, they bickered and were still rivals, he supposed, but it was strange. It was those moments and moments like these that Lance made Keith feel _normal._

Something that was impossible for him now but Keith let himself enjoy this time with his weird space family. Words couldn’t describe how much he cared about each and every one of them. Despite not knowing a thing about his past or his strange bloodline, Keith was determined to keep his family safe no matter what.

Keith had been alone for so long he thought he wouldn’t miss having a family. Seeing them all now, smiling and laughing, he couldn’t imagine life without them.  

…

_The day of the Galra Ambush_

During the final mission, Keith was driven and focused to take out the Galra and liberate the planet. Though, the battle eventually took a turn and Keith found himself chasing after a squadron breaking off from the main force. No way he was going to let them get away.

Once he took out the drones, he noticed a temple down below. He stared at it and felt something pull at him, telling him to land. He tried to fight the feeling at first but urged Red to head down to the temple.

Keith’s movements felt dreamlike as he complied to the call. He stepped out of the Red Lion and made his way slowly down into the temple. Once he reached the bottom of the stairs he slowly made his way deeper into a large chamber.

Strange glyphs covered the walls and the support columns as well as the floor, some of them appeared too faded to see clearly. It almost reminded him of the cave where they found the Blue Lion but something felt wrong about it. He wasn’t sure what kind of temple he was in but it looked ancient like it could fall apart any minute now.

Why was he down here again…?

Blinding pain shot through his head and he cried out as screams and chants echoed in his head. He quickly ripped off his helmet, throwing it across the room before doubling over.

He screamed, feeling his skin and teeth violently change against his will. Why was this happening? Here and now? This never happened to him before; he never fully changed, only splotches of skin or his eyes. And why did it hurt so much?

Keith whimpered in pain, rocking back and forth, saying to himself: “I’m human, I’m human.” As if it would somehow make it so. Laughter suddenly rang in his head.

_“Don’t fool yourself, child. You were never one to begin with. Why resist your blood so violently?”_

Keith tensed, recognizing the voice of Zarkon’s witch. He tried to drown out her voice and reached for his helmet, but it was too far away to reach. He knew he needed call for help but he couldn’t move. He felt her in his head, trying to control him, the magic she was summoning made his blood feel like it was on fire.

He wanted to scream, fight back. He needed to fight back to get her out.

 _“You’re only going to end up hurting those you care for the most. Why not just give in?”_ He could practically hear her hum in his ear.    

 _“Get out of my head.”_ Keith growled under his breath.

“Keith?” Lance suddenly called out and Keith’s heart dropped. No, she couldn’t have meant Lance. He couldn’t hurt him. "Yo, Keith! You dropped something!”

No. Not him.

_Why is he here?!_

“What are you doing here? Looking for treasure or something?”

Keith was breathing heavily; his focus was waning. He needed to warn Lance about the danger. Haggar was here, in this temple somewhere. She had to be; trying to turn him against Lance and the rest of Team Voltron. Keith wasn’t sure if he was strong enough to stop her.

He needed to get Lance to leave, to warn the others that he was a lost cause. They couldn’t trust him. He would only hurt them. 

"Lance…you need to go..." Keith muttered. He could still hear Haggar in his head. Where was she? Why wasn’t she trying to attack them? Maybe Lance hadn’t noticed her and she’s lurking in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike.

“Keith? You alright? You don’t sound so good.” Lance’s voice broke through the haze.

"Lance!” Keith hissed urgently. “Just go!”

Why couldn’t he just listen to anything he said to him?!

“What? No! Not until you tell me what’s going on!” Lance’s voice began to fade. Keith trembled as he started to panic. His voice felt like it was the only thing keeping him anchored. He desperately tried to hold onto it. He needed him to leave. To get away before it was too late.

“Just get away from me!” Keith snapped as he hunched over, Haggard’s pull was becoming stronger and harder to ignore.

“Why?! Why do you want me to go so bad?” Lance pleaded as he took a step closer to Keith.

Keith wanted to scream. He didn’t want him to go. He just wanted him to be safe, but _why_ couldn’t just Lance listen to him. Keith needed to show Lance what he needed to protect himself from.

“I don’t want to hurt you!” Keith cried, his voice cracked as he finally turned to face him.

Keith could see the shocked, the fear, the confusion in Lance’s eyes. He wanted to look away, not able to bear Lance looking at him this way but it had to be this way. No more hiding. It wasn’t an option anymore. It was over.

“You should have run while you still could, boy.” Keith could hear the crackle of energy behind him and acted, jumping in front of Lance before his friend realized what was going on. Keith cried out as the bolt burned into his armor and he collapsed to the ground.

Lance reacted just how Keith expected, except for one. “Keith!”

He told him to run. To go without him.

“Get _out_ of here!” Keith all but growled as Lance ran for him.

“Not without you!” Lance slung his arm over his shoulder and dragged him out of the temple.

Everything started to become hazy to Keith. They were arguing about something as they fought their way out of the chamber. He barely noticed as Lance scooped up Keith’s discarded helmet before they stumbled up the temple stairs.

Keith felt angry, no upset. At who? The Galra? Haggar? No, right now he was angry at Lance.

“Why can’t you just _trust_ _me_!?” Keith hissed.

“And why didn’t you trust me?!” Lance snapped. He could hear Lance’s voice crack and it stung Keith.

Lance’s voice suddenly faded away, everything did. Keith wasn’t sure what was happening to him. He felt himself reach for his bayard like he’s done so many times before and activated it. The next thing he knew, Lance stumble against him.

Keith heard a thud as Lance dropped the helmet he was carrying and didn’t notice as it rolled away from them.

Their eyes were locked and Keith looked at him confused. He was about to ask what was wrong when he saw the blood seeping out of the hole in Lance’s armor. They stared at each other, Lance looking equally confused before his expression contorted in pain.

“Lance? LANCE?!” Keith cried out and cradled Lance in his arms as he collapsed. “Come on, stay with me!”

Keith heard as his sword clattered as it hit the ground. His eyes widen when he saw it was covered in blood. He stared at it in disbelief when it finally hit him and he realized what he’d done. Haggar got through. She took control and used him to hurt Lance. Tears suddenly blurred Keith’s vision and he let out a ragged sob.

Why was this happening? How could he let his happen?

Keith collapsed to his knees and held Lance tightly as he rocked him back and forth, “You’re okay, you’re okay…”

Lance said nothing and rested against his shoulder. He was going to pass out any second now but he just kept staring at Keith with a faraway look in his eyes. Then he did the strangest thing Keith could think he could have done in this situation. He smiled.  

“Why are you smiling you, idiot?!” Keith shouted, not meaning to be as forceful as he was. “You, I…”

Lance just kept smiling and whispered weakly in his ear.

"It's not your fault..."

Suddenly, a roar ripped through the air. Keith looked up, startled to see Blue firing at Red. The Blue Lion knocked her down before she charged straight towards him. Keith quickly realized she could feel Lance’s pain before Blue fired warning shots only feet away from him.

The blasts forced Keith to let go of Lance and before he had time to recover, Blue had snatched Lance up into her mouth before she turned on Keith, eyes fiercely glowing gold as she stared him down. Keith sat there, frozen until the Red Lion barreled into the Blue Lion’s side. Keith quickly understood she was trying to protect him but why were they fighting from the start?

Then, Keith noticed the Red Lion’s eyes were glowing purple, rather than gold and knew her strange behavior must have somehow been linked to his own. Red roared, activating her laser canon, ready to fire at the Blue Lion.

“Red, stop!” Keith called out. “Don’t hurt them!”

Her eyes suddenly shifted back to gold and Keith can feel her confusion through their bond for her actions. She could feel his fear but couldn’t understand the cause of it. She quickly fell back to his side while Blue growled at them warily. Through, Keith could tell she was just as confused and scared by what they had done.

Just then, laser blasts rained down on them and Keith took cover behind Red’s leg. He looked up to see a squad of Galra jets chasing after the Yellow Lion. Red roared out and fired at the jets, finally seeing their true enemy in her sights.

“Guys! Are you okay? We couldn’t reach you, the Galra have the Castle surrounded!” Hunk called out of them before crying out when he barely dodged one of Red Lion’s attacks. “Whoa! Keith watch your aim! That was a close one!”

“I-I’m sorry! It’s not me. Red, stop!” Keith ordered and miraculously the Red Lion powered down her weapons.

Keith sighed softly before pain suddenly ripped through him. Chatting echoed in his ears and Keith knew Haggar was trying to take control again. He cried out in pain and tried to force it back. Never again.

“GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!” he screamed, his helmet lying by his feet.

“Keith! What’s wrong?! Are you—” Hunk flew in close and tensed when his monitors zoomed in on Keith’s face. “Keith…? Is that you…?”

“Yeah…it’s me…” Keith breathed heavily but he looked up and Hunk could see his purple skin and golden eyes. Hunk was at a complete loss for words. “I can’t explain just listen to me please…”

Red lowered her head to allow Keith in and he stumbled in just as more Galra arrived and started to attack. Hunk wasted no time to offer cover fire. Keith let out a shaky breath has he got to his pilot seat. “Hunk…Lance, he’s hurt. I…I hurt him. Hagger’s here, she’s in my head somehow… She’s trying to control me.”

“What?! Where is she?! Is she here?!” Hunk perked, looking around wildly. “Wait, Lance, are you okay?”

“I think he’s unconscious…and Haggar is trapped in the temple for now. Please Hunk, you need to get Lance out of here, get him help.” Keith panted softly, clenching his jaw when he could still feel Haggar’s pull at the edge of his mind.

“Whoa, whoa, you sound like you’re not coming with us.” Hunk gave him a look and he got worried when Keith didn’t say anything.

“I’ll cover you.” Keith finally said, charging forward to attack the oncoming Galra forces. “And tell Lance that I’m sorry.” 

Blue swiftly moved out of the way to avoid enemy fire but her movements were limited. She needed a pilot and the bayard to unleash her ice attacks. For the moment, all she could do was protect Lance.

“Keith! No you’re coming with us!” Hunk called out, going after him.

“Hunk! I tried to warn Lance and I almost killed him!” Keith yelled, his voice ragged but he took a breath to level it again. “Hunk, I stabbed him. I could just as easily slip and hurt you or any of the others. I can’t control this forever. You need to go _now!”_

Hunk grimaced, finally understanding the severity of the situation. It hurt, hearing the pain and fear in Keith’s voice. He still didn’t understand what was going on with Keith but their enemy did somehow and was using it to their advantage. “Keith…”

“Go help the others! They need you right now. Lance needs you right now.” Keith pressed on as he took out the last of the Galra. “Look, I’m going to stay down on the surface. I can’t go up there. I…I don’t want to hurt any of you.”

Hunk wanted to argue that they couldn’t split up. Nothing good ever came out of the team being separated but he knew things were getting worse up top and he had to make a choice. Hunk took a deep breath and nodded. “We’ll come back for you, alright? Just stay out of sight until we do. You’re still one of us.”

Keith was surprised by Hunks words but couldn’t help but smile weakly, “Thanks Hunk…it means a lot to hear you say that…Keep Lance safe, please. Lead Blue back, she can’t do much on her own but she’s piloting.”

“She is? By herself?” Hunk perked and glanced up at Blue before he shook his head. “Okay, okay gotta focus, alright Blue, let’s get Lance some help.”

There was a low rumble from Blue as they headed for orbit.

Keith covered their escape, taking out the last of the Galra reinforcements before heading out as far as he could get from the temple and Haggar as he could. He needed to get away from her, the voice was still in his head. So he kept flying and hoped Lance and the others were going to be okay.

…

Hunk’s mind was reeling as he tried to get Lance to the castle as quickly as he could. This day was definitely turning into one nightmare after another.

“Lance? You still with me buddy?” Hunk called to Lance. At first the Blue Paladin didn’t say anything but eventually he started to mutter. The only word Hunk could make out: Keith. “It’s alright, Lance. We’re going to go back for him. I promise.”

“Hunk! Where are you guys?! We need you to hurry!” Shiro’s voice suddenly called out through the comms.

“The Castle’s shields were losing power!” Pidge added. “I don’t know how much more damage it can take!”

“We need to form Voltron!” Shiro yelled.

“Uh, that’s gonna be a problem. Lance’s is injured badly and Keith…I don’t know how to explain it…He had to stay behind.”

“Are they alright?!” Pidge gasped. 

“Hunk, what happened?” Shiro tried to keep his voice calm.

“Okay it’s really complicated and I would love to give you all the details if I could even understand it all myself but we really don’t have time right now.” Hunk took a deep breath as he and Blue finally had he castle ship in their sights.

Just a few more seconds and they were there.

“We’re almost there. Look, Lance needs help like put him in a medical pod help, I don’t know what happened exactly but—”

A loud boom caught their attention. The Paladins watched as the ship’s shields finally went down just as the Galra command ship fired at one of the thrusters, tearing it into shreds. The ship began losing altitude fast, the other three thrusters didn’t have the power to break free from the planet’s gravitational pull.

The four lions and their Paladins wasted no time and moved in to try to slow the castle’s descent.

“You need to let go or you’ll die!” Allura yelled as she and Coran did all they could to slow their decent.

“We’ll get you out of there!” Shiro argued.

“There’s no time! Get out of range!” Allura urged them. Reluctantly, the paladins broke away from the castle as it broke through the atmosphere. “Bracing for impact!”

Shiro lead the team away from the shockwave as the ship finally crashed onto the planet’s surface. All he could do was stare as the dust settled around the ship. Once everything had settled it was a race to reach the Castle of Lions.

Shiro knew there was no time to let his emotions take control. He needed to act, to find Allura and Coran before the Galra could overwhelm their position. The other Paladins remained outside of the crash site, offering whatever cover fire they could while Shiro searched for the two Alteans.

While the Paladins fought outside, Pidge kept trying to ask what had happened to Keith. Hunk wasn’t really sure how to explain. This wasn’t exactly something they could talk about in the middle of a fire fight but the moment Lance passed out again from him his injuries Hunk had enough.

“Alright, you know what? Fine!” Hunk took a deep breath. “Keith’s an alien!”

At first there was no answer.

“…You’re joking right?” Pidge asked, unsure why Hunk would try something like this in their current situation.

“Okay, I know it sounds crazy, more specifically he’s a Galra. Even I didn’t believe it and I saw him—” Hunk went rambling on about what had happened to Keith and Lance, at least as much as he knew to tell.

Shiro was silent the entire time as he made his way to the command room. Keith’s behavior since their separation; it was finally starting to all make sense now. Shiro took a deep breath before opening his comm. “Keith, please, if your comm is on you need to listen to me.” Shiro pleaded, as he made his way to the command room.

No answer but Shiro went on. “I know you’re scared but we’re going to figure this out alright? This is why you got upset when Lance called you a Galra, isn’t it? You knew back then, right? That’s why you ran off, you didn’t want the rest of us to see you like that…”

Still no answer. Though, Shiro kept on talking. In a way, it helped him stay focus even as he picked his way through damaged halls and circuitry hanging from the walls and ceiling. Fortunately, the deeper he got into the castle, the less damage there was.

“I know you must have felt scared and alone, Keith, but no matter what, we’re here for you.” Shiro said softly.

“Shiro’s right. Like I said before we’re coming back for you.” Hunk said through the comm.

“We’re not scared of you Keith. You’re our friend no matter what.” Pidge added and in a way understood Keith’s fear.

Pidge was scared coming out to the others that they were a girl, so Keith must have been feeling something similar when he realized he was a Galra. Still, finding out you weren’t human must have been too much for Keith to be able to accept. He just couldn’t find it in himself to tell the others. Either way, Pidge was more than willing to offer Keith her support.

The comm was silent but Shiro was sure Keith heard every word. “We’re going to be okay, Keith. All of us.”

“Heh, you guys are the best you know that…?” Keith finally spoke up much to their relief, his voice sounding strained as he spoke. “But, what about Lance? How’s he doing?”

“Peachy, thanks for asking…” Lance muttered, his voice slurred but there was a smile in his voice after he regained consciousness once again. “Besides, you and me Keith. Rematch.”

“Lance?” Keith forced a laugh. “Yeah, definitely. Pick a time and place.”

“Can’t get rid of me that easily.” Lance smirked, head feeling light. “It’s a date.”

“You didn’t even pick a time.” Keith made a face at the comm.

“Whenever you’re free then…” Lance grinned but his voice started to trail off again as he lost consciousness.

“Lance?” Keith tensed. “Lance?!”

“Lance! You okay? Come on, you gotta stay awake!” Hunk called to him but there was no answer.

“Hunk, is he alright?” Shiro asked concerned.

“Uh, I’ll let you know when I do, Shiro.” Hunk sighed.

“Right,” Shiro replied before moving onward to search for Coran and Allura. 

After what felt like an eternity Shiro finally found himself at the door of the command room. He quickly forced the doors apart and ran inside. “Allura! Coran!”

Shiro quickly spotted them, both strapped onto two passenger seats.

“Shiro?” Allura called out weakly.

“Ugh, crashing the Castle of Lions. Only glad my great grandfather wasn’t here to see it…” Coran groaned softly.

Shiro was at their sides quickly and checked them over for injuries. “Yeah it’s me, how’re you two to holding up?”

“Don’t think anything is broken…” Coran replied, moving to get up but nearly lost his balance.

“Maybe not but it looks like the crash took a lot out on you two. Just sit tight while I check if the Castle’s defenses are still functioning.”

“I’ll help,” Allura insisted and was up before Shiro could stop her.

The two quickly looked over the Castle’s reports and quickly discovered the ship’s weapon’s systems were down and the shields were long gone. Any reserve power they had left for it was used up to absorb the shock of the crash.

“We need to get out of here.” Shiro finally said. “There are too many Galra forces out there and the ship is lost.”

“No, we can’t just leave the Castle!” Coran insisted, forcing himself to get up.

“We may not have a choice anymore.” Allura moved to his side to help him keep his balance.

“Let’s get to the Black Lion and get out of here.” Shiro said, moving out towards the door. “Come on, I’ll make sure nothing gets in our way.”

The three didn’t get far before Galra forces suddenly flooded the ship. They quickly had to take cover in the training room. Shiro tried to map out another path for them to take but each was blocked by too many Galra. If Coran and Allura hadn’t been injured from the crash, they might have stood a chance to sneak past but there were just too many of them.

Shiro could see through the Black Lion’s eyes that she had put up her shields and was surrounded by a platoon. “This looks bad, there are too many of them out there.”

“The odds of getting out of here are growing slim.” Allura grimaced.

“Well, what do we do?” Coran asked.

“Zarkon can’t get his hands on the other Lions.” Allura and Shiro said at once and they both shared a look. They knew what had to be done.

“Shiro, try to contact Keith. You and the other Paladins need to get out of here.” Allura replied.

Shiro nodded and try to get through to him, “Keith, listen I need you to regroup with the others we can’t win this fight. Zarkon can’t get his hands on the lions, we need to get out of here.”

No answer. Panic went through Shiro but he tried to keep his voice calm. “Keith, please there isn’t time. Get to the others as soon as you can.”

Still no answer. Shiro was beginning to fear if Haggar had gotten to Keith somehow. He tried to push back that fear and hoped Keith had heard him.

“Shiro…You need to go. Try to slip past the enemy forces. You just might be able to on your own without us slowing you down.” Allura said softly before she became serious. “Get to the Black Lion and join the others if you can. If not, I can open a wormhole for Lance, Pidge and Hunk but if you and Keith aren’t there before it closes…”

“…I know.” Shiro said grimily before standing to open the door. “Go, head back to the command room. I’ll give you two some cover.”

Shiro took off without another word, keeping the path to the command room clear as Allura and Coran slipped past him. He took out drone after drone, trying to get to the Launch Bay as quickly as he could but he kept getting forced back. They just kept flooding in and Shiro couldn’t get past them.

After a few minutes Shiro opened his comm to contact Allura. “Allura, are you and Coran in the command room?”

“Yes and have you reached the Black Lion?” Allura asked, hopeful.

“I can’t make it...” Shiro replied, keeping himself focused on taking out the enemies in front of him. There was no way he could get to the Black Lion in time. “Allura, you know what to do.”

“Alright…I’m so sorry it came to this, Shiro.”

“Me too…” Shiro said softly as he took shelter behind a column. “Everyone, fall back!” Shiro finally opened his comm to the other Paladins.

Obviously, the three of them tried to argue but Shiro wouldn’t have it. “Lance! Hunk! Pidge! Listen to me, you need to get out of here! The Galra have taken over the ship! Just go!” Shiro his voice growing urgent as he moved out to take out more Galra, just enough to give Allura the time she needs.

“We’re not going to abandon you guys!” Pidge called out.

“We’re coming in!” Hunk added.

“No, stay back! There are too many of them for you guys!” Shiro tried to warn them. “We’re outnumbered and with Keith gone there’s no way for us to form Voltron…” Shiro said softly, his voice cracking a bit as he spoke Keith’s name.

“Then what do you except us to do?!” Lance snapped.

Shiro said nothing and knew what had to be done. He was scared what would happen to them on their own.

“Shiro?” Pidge asked.

“Come on man, you can’t expect us to just leave you guys like this.” Hunk pleaded.

“I’m so sorry.” Shiro finally said before taking a deep breath. “Allura open the wormhole.”

Allura stood at the controls and closed her eyes before activating the wormhole. She opened her eyes again as she and Coran watched as the remaining three paladins made their way up to the swirling vortex. “We’ll see each other again and for what it’s worth, good luck.”

The two Alteans watched them go before noticing a flash of red heading towards them. Allura’s eyes widen when she recognized the Red Lion but realized that something was terribly wrong.

Outside, Shiro was being dragged out of the ship by Galra sentries when he heard a boom above them. He looked up and watched as the Red Lion’s laser canon fired and collided with the Blue Lion. Horror struck into each member of team Voltron as the shot ripped through the Blue Lion.

Keith held onto the controls tightly. It felt like he had just watched someone else pull the trigger but his body couldn’t react. He couldn’t scream or cry. All he could do was listen as Hagger cackled and whispered in his head.

_“You are one of us now.”_

…

Shiro was immediately thrown into a small prison shuttle and restrained. Soon after, Allura and Coran were thrown inside and Shiro quickly went to their sides. “Are you alright? Did they make it? Keith—”

Shiro couldn’t even find it in himself to finish that sentence. They all saw what happened.

“They made it…” Allura said after a moment but she said nothing more, not wanting to think how slim Lance’s survival was now.

“Where’s Keith…? Where did they take him?” Shiro finally forced himself to say.

Screaming from just outside of the shuttle startled the three before the doors opened and Keith was thrown inside. Keith cried out, his scream almost sounding like roar as he threw himself against the door. He suddenly lost his balance as the shuttle began to take off to head to the main ship.

“Keith…?” Shiro said softly as he approached him, noticing for the first time the purple skin and the piercing yellow eyes. He flinched at the sight of him for a moment before reminding himself he wasn’t the one who tortured him for a year. He was his friend.

Keith’s ears flickered when he heard him and tensed as he quickly scooted away from him. He curled up in the corner and hid his face behind his restrained arms. He didn’t want any of them to see him, not like this. But he couldn’t change back no matter how hard he tried. Why couldn’t he just change back.

Shiro said nothing and slowly knelt down to Keith’s level. “Hey, it’s alright. You’re okay Keith…”

“Am I…?” Keith breathed out bitterly, his voice strained and he refused to meet Shiro in the eyes. “I killed him…I killed Lance…There’s no way he…”

Keith’s hands are shaking and Shiro noticed he was holding something. It was hard to make out at first but Shiro quickly recognized the white cloth of the bandage Lance had given to Keith.

Shiro rested a hand over Keith’s and was glad he didn’t flinch away. He sighed and rested his head against his. “Hey, Lance is alright. You didn’t kill him. Pidge and Hunk wouldn’t just sit around and let him die either.”

“They’d probably bring Lance back and punch him if he died on them.” Coran brought up, trying to offer support.

Keith didn’t respond but Shiro could have sworn he saw Keith crack a small smile but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. Keith leaned his head against Shiro’s and closed his eyes. “She was in my head. I couldn’t get her out…Now Lance and the Blue Lion could be dead because I wasn’t strong enough…”

“Keith, I can still sense the Blue Lion. Her presence is weak but she’s still functioning. There’s still hope if she’s alive, Lance is as well.” Allura didn’t want to admit how weak she sensed the Blue Lion. She was fading quickly but she was still with them.

“Yeah right...It wasn’t enough I stabbed him, I had to shoot him with a laser canon too.” Keith gasped out, gritting his teeth as tears blurred his vision but refused to fall. “I didn’t even remember it happening. One second, the Red and Blue Lions were fighting, the next there was just so much blood…covering Lance and my sword…Then the Blue Lion tried to attack me, not that I can blamed her, I almost killed her Paladin.” Keith laughed bitterly. 

“They did what? The Voltron Lions don’t act on their own. Not unless the bond with their Paladins are have merged into one or their Paladins are in mortal danger.” Allura gasped.

“Blue definitely had a reason to act.” Keith muttered.

“No, no, the Red Lion. She would have never willingly attack one of her own.” Allura replied, she couldn’t understand how Haggar could have altered the Red Lion’s mind to attack a fellow Lion so easily.  

“Allura…I’ve been meaning to ask for a while but is it possible that the Lions were created partly with Galra tech? It could explain how Haggar was able to manipulate the Red Lion and back when Zarkon with the Black Lion.” Shiro asked but before Allura could answer the shuttle doors opened.

Guards rushed in and grabbed them, forcing Shiro and Keith apart as they were dragged out of the shuttle.

“Keith!” Shiro called out as the guards dragged Keith away from them and froze when he saw Haggar standing in front of them.

“Take him to the lab.” She ordered the guards taking Keith. “Take the rest to the prison wing for now.”

Keith tried to lunge at Haggar, screaming at her for what she made him do before a guard struck Keith with the end of his rifle, knocking him out. Shiro struggled against the guards and glared at Haggar as they were escorted past her. “If you do anything to him I’ll kill you!”

Haggar simple cackled and grabbed Shiro’s chin. “Oh, don’t fret. Your time will come, Champion.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooo! this chapter is like 9K the most I've written for a chapter for this fic wooo!!! Alright I know it feels like I'm updating weekly but that's just dumb luck on my end XD and I'm on fire with writing and I won't be able to work on this fic for a few days since I'm going on a short trip but I will try to update again as soon as possible! Thank you for all the support! It's been like 2 weeks since I've posted this fic and it has so many hits and kudos and love thank you so much!!!! 
> 
> Please comment, subscribe, leave kudos! I love hearing what you think of the story!


	4. Hello and Goodbye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Family reunions and memories of goodbyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning, I’m Hispanic/Latina and somewhat speak Spanish but it’s more of I can understand it better when I hear it and can’t communicate properly because I talk backwards LIKE AN AMERICAN *sobs* anyway, I can’t really read or write in Spanish but I’m trying, saying to the best of my ability what I want to write out loud and using aids to write it cuz some of Lance’s family members speak some Spanish so yeah, enjoy meeting Lance’s family!! Hunk’s too! And Pidge being smol and angry and ready to fight 
> 
> *tosses some low key Shiro/Matt in the mix*

**_Galaxy Garrison, The day of the Paladins’ Arrival_ **

Guns were trained on the Green and Yellow Lions from the moment they landed in the middle of the Garrison grounds, between class changes no less. The courtyard had been filled with cadets and even now the Garrison personnel had difficulties getting them inside and back to their classrooms. cadets crowded the windows, some were even on the roof of each of the nearby buildings to get a closer look at the robotic Lions that just touched down in the middle of the campus.

Now the two lions stood silently, waiting for their Paladins’ commands. The Blue Lion slung unresponsive over the Yellow Lion’s back. Meanwhile, a large military force was already starting to form outside but kept their distance for now.

Pidge scanned the crowd outside and the cadets at the windows. Many of them had their phones out, taking pictures and recording. Good, word would spread fast of their arrival then.

“Uh, should we do something or just wait for them to do something?” Hunk asked Pidge as he glanced back at Lance. He was still unconscious and Pidge managed to stop the bleeding but he still in a pretty bad shape.

“Let’s wait for now…” Pidge replied as they tapped a finger on their console, “Did you notice their guns?”

“You mean the purple glowy guns that look a lot like Galra blasters?” Hunk asked as his cameras panned over the Garrison Forces.

“Yeah those; it looks like they’ve managed to reverse engineering some of the tech from the ship Shiro used to escape.” Pidge muttered, it made them think what else they could have possibly reverse engineering. More weapons? Maybe even the ship itself?

“I just hope your plan works…” Hunk mumbled. He didn’t like the looks they got from the Garrison troops.

“Me too…” Pidge said softly

“Step out of the Lions, calmly and slowly or we’ll open fire!” The Admiral suddenly called out from among the Garrison forces.

Pidge and Hunk both took a deep breath and made their way out of their Lions. Pidge had their arms raised to show they meant no harm as they made their way in front of the Garrison forces. Several students gasped when they saw the blood on their armor and Lance slumped in Hunk’s arms.  

 “Please! We mean you no harm! We need your help!” Pidge called out and amplified their voice through their helmet.

“Set the injured down and both of you keep your hands up on get on your knees.” The Admiral ordered.

Pidge felt enraged; why on earth were they trying to arrest them? The Green Lion sensed their anger and roared at the Garrison forces when they tried to get near them. They jumped back, startled and raised their weapons on the Green Lion.

“Enough! Lower your weapons! Like I said we mean you no harm!” Pidge called out to them. “I’ve had it with the Galaxy Garrison! The lies, the cover ups, the fear, everything!”

“Um Pidge—” Hunk tried to calm them.

“Shut it, Hunk, I’ve got this.” Pidge snapped but didn’t mean to sound so angry at Hunk. Their anger was meant for the Garrison and the Admiral and them alone.

Pidge took a few more steps towards the Garrison forces, arms still stretched out to show they were unarmed, “Look, I don’t have time to explain who we are or what we’re doing here. My friend Lance McClain is dying and is in urgent need of medical attention! If he dies while you point your weapons at us and refuse to offer us the aid we need, it’s his blood on your hands.”

“All we want is for Lance to get the help he needs.” Hunk spoke up before he glanced over at Pidge. He understood their frustration.

There was a small commotion among the Admiral and the rest of the Garrison forces. Pidge and Hunk held their breaths and hoped they would see reason. After what felt like an eternity, the campus’ ambulance arrived and parked not too far from them, a small medical team stepped out with a gurney.

Hunk carefully set down Lance while Pidge kept an eye on the Garrison forces to make sure they wouldn’t try anything. The paramedics quickly took over; they checked Lance’s vitals and confirmed there was a pulse but it was weak. They wasted no time and rolled Lance into the ambulance.

“Are you injured?” One paramedic stayed behind to ask.

Hunk and Pidge shook their heads. “No, it’s his blood.”

“I don’t know what you did to stop the bleeding but it very well saved his life.” She replied, before she motioned back to the ambulance. “One of you can come with him.”

“Go.” Pidge said to Hunk. “I’ll finish this up. Make sure they take care of Lance.”

“Be careful alright?” Hunk said before he followed the paramedic to the ambulance.

Once the ambulance was out of sight, the Yellow Lion’s force field activated. The action startled the Garrison forces and they raised their weapons.

“Lower your weapons!” Pidge raised their arms. “The Yellow Lion will not attack! It just activated its force field because Hunk’s gone!”

“Then come with us. Your friend is receiving the medical attention he needs. Enough of this standoff. You will not be detained. We just have questions that need answers.” The Admiral called to Pidge.

“Takashi Shirogane!” Pidge suddenly called out.

The crowd of students began to stir, unsure why Pidge had brought up the dead pilot of the Kerberos mission.

“Is that what you said to Shiro a few months ago after he crash landed on earth? That you’ll ‘bring him in for questioning?’” Pidge glared at the Admiral, they didn’t buy a single thing he said.

The Admiral and the Garrison forces were silent so Pidge went on.

“I saw what you did to him. You tied him up to a table and sedated him when he tried to ask for help. When he tried to warn you about a force that threatened us all. You treated him like an enemy!” Pidge continued and balled their hands into fists. “I refuse for Hunk, Lance or myself to be treated like that after what we had been through keeping the universe safe!”

Several cadets started to call out loud enough for Pidge to hear;

“Where’s Shiro?”

“He’s alive?”

“What happened to Lance?”

“Is he going to make it?”

“Where did you get those robot Lions?”

“What is the Garrison hiding?”

“What are you keeping the universe save from?”

The Garrison did what they could to hold them back but the students refused to go. Pidge could see how much they wanted answers. Now that Lance was taken care of maybe it was time they got some. Pidge took a deep breath and gathered their thoughts.

“I know you have a lot of questions. Let me start by saying that across the galaxy a war has been raging between us and Emperor Zarkon, leader of the Galra Empire. I know this sounds like its right out of a sci-fi movie but I’m telling the truth.” Pidge insisted and waved a hand up towards the Lions. “There are Five of these Lions and they all combine to form the greatest weapon in the universe, Voltron.”

“Voltron?” The Admiral seemed to have some recognition. Pidge could only assume they weren’t the only ones to pick up the Galra communication.  

“Each Lion is piloted by a Paladin and share a bond that can’t be forced or broken. Together we are all that stand in the way of Zarkon from taking over the known universe.” Pidge continued, they briefly glanced back at the Green Lion. “Our Galaxy is very well one of the few places left untouched by the Galra but it’s not going to stay that way for long.”

“Who do you refer to as “us”? Who have you been fighting alongside with all this time?” The Admiral asked.

Pidge looked to the ground and took another breath and stood tall as they called out each member of Team Voltron. “Princess Allura of the planet Altea, a planet long destroyed by the Galra. Commander of the Castle of Lions. Keeper of the Voltron Lions.”

Pidge thoughts went to Allura; her bright eyes, filled with so much hope and her voice the last time they spoke. She believed in them so much. They couldn’t let her down, not now, not ever.

“Royal Advisor of Altea, Coran. Mentor of the five Voltron Paladins.”

Coran was always a bit eccentric but he could be mature and caring when it really mattered. He did know how to make a great cup of space sludge. Pidge didn’t think he actually ever told them the name of the Altean drink. 

“The Black Paladin, Takashi Shirogane, pilot of the Black Lion and the head of Voltron.”

Shiro’s final goodbye came back to Pidge and hit them like a train. He was there one moment and gone the next. Pidge knew Shiro would want the three of them to protect each other. Was that what they were doing now?

“The Red Paladin, Keith Kogane, pilot of the Red Lion, former Garrison cadet and the right arm of Voltron.”

Anger surged through Pidge. They were angry by how Haggar had manipulated and twisted Keith into nearly killing Lance. She forced Keith, a quiet, hotheaded but kind guy, to turn against his family. Haggar had to pay for what she’d done to him.

“The Yellow Paladin, Hunk Garrett, pilot of the Yellow Lion and the left leg of Voltron.”

If it had just been Pidge and Lance that got away they weren’t sure if they would have been able to pull it together to treat Lance’s wounds without Hunk’s patience and reassurance. He was chosen to be the Yellow Paladin for a reason right?

“The Blue Paladin, Lance McClain, pilot of the Blue Lion who was severely damaged in battle and the right leg of Voltron.”

Pidge only hoped they got Lance the proper medical attention he needed in time. They weren’t sure what they would do if Lance didn’t make it or the Blue Lion for the matter. Pidge briefly glanced over at the Blue Lion that laid across the Yellow Lion’s back, both protected by her force field.

“And I’m the Green Paladin, Pidge Gunderson,” Pidge finally said and looked up at the Admiral. “but I am also Katie Holt, child of Sam Holt, the Commander of the Kerberos mission and sibling of Matt Holt and we are the Defenders of the Universe.”

“Where is the rest of your team?” The Admiral asked, once the shock of recognition left him. “Why aren’t they here with you?”

“…We were separated in an ambush.” Pidge replied as they bit their lip. “The rest of Team Voltron sacrificed their freedom so we could escape. The three of us are all that stand a chance against the Galra but it doesn’t need to be that way.”

“What are you proposing?” The Admiral asked.

“We only want your cooperation and help. For the sake of the universe, Voltron needs to be reformed but we won’t be able to find the others on our own.” Pidge explained. Not only that, they just really wanted to bring the others back. They wanted to bring them home. “We can only find them if we work together but don’t treat us with the disrespect and cruelty you showed to Shiro. You have no idea what he went through to come back and try to warn you of the Galra. So please, we need the Galaxy Garrison as allies, not enemies”

…

“I’m so proud of you, Pidge. That speech was beautiful.” Lance grinned as he looked up from his phone from the news broadcast. “Sounds like you guys took care of things pretty nicely while I was out.”

“It was an utter nightmare standing up there.” Pidge admitted with groan. “Though, I’m somewhat convinced the Garrison is actually glad we’re back and want to work with us. There’s still a lot they don’t understand about the Galra tech they’ve been reengineering.”

“So I’m guessing you’ve been tinkering around with the tech while I was comatose?” Lance asked as he relaxed against the pile of pillows his nurse bought in not long after he regained consciousness.

“Guilty.” Pidge replied with a light smirk.

“That and we’ve been trying to set up a communication system,” Hunk added in. “Like the one Pidge made, to pick up any Galra chatter that would tell us anything about Shiro and the others.”

“Any luck?” Lance sat up, hopeful.

“Not yet but we’re still trying.” Pidge sighed and adjusted their glasses.

Lance rested his hands on top of their heads. The two gave him a look as they wondered what he was doing before he grinned and winked at them. “Well, you guys did good. A lot more than I have.”

“You were in a coma.” Pidge stared at him deadpanned.

“And comas are getting real old real fast.” Lance groaned before his expression faltered a bit.

“Hey, you alright Lance?” Hunk perked up.

“Huh? Oh yeah I guess…It’s just, I feel kinda weird.” Lance replied and let his fingers relax.  

“Weird how?” Pidge asked curiously.

“One second we were across the universe on the Castleship, eating breakfast space goo, then we’re on the mission that went _horribly_ wrong. The next thing I know I wake up home and find out you guys saved us from getting arrested and that my family is going to show up any second now.” Lance replied, he bit his lip and gripped the end of blanket tightly.

“Yeah, we get that too, buddy.” Hunk placed a hand on his shoulder, “We’re going to figure this out alright?”

“I know; I know…It’s just been a _really_ long day at least in my head it’s felt like it’s only been a day…”

“It’s definitely a lot to take in.” Pidged leaned back against the back of her chair and fidgeted with their glasses.

“Yeah…” Lance sighed softly as he stared at the ceiling, “I think the most nerve wracking thing at the moment is not knowing where the others are and…just what my family is going to think when they see me after the news broadcast…”

“Scared but happy to see you’re alive?” Hunk suggested.

“You sound a little scared yourself.” Pidge noted before Lance glanced out the window and said nothing. Hunk and Pidge both looked at each other before they looked back at their friend.

“Are you scared?” Pidge asked. “Why?”

“I don't know, maybe I'm scared what they're gonna think about one of their own family members literally dropping off the face of the earth only to come back months later out of the blue and show up on every news station, covered in blood with a hole in my shoulder from my best friend.” Lance said quickly before he took a deep breath. “Not that I’m going to mention the last part but you get what I’m trying to say.”

“Keith's your best friend?” Hunk made a face. “I thought he was your rival.”

“Yes but—” Lance tried to explain.

“I thought I was your best friend!” Hunk cried out.

“You're all my best friends!” Lance groaned and buried his face into his hands before he took another breath and dropped his shoulders. “Fine you have seniority for being the first. Anyway. Focus, Hunk! 

“Alright, alright, joking aside, I'm sure more than anything they're going to be happy to see you. They're your family.” Hunk offered and Lance bite his lip, still not entirely convinced.

“Come on man, I’ve met your family. They’re going to go crazy when they see you.” Hunk tried to reassure him.

“Good crazy or bad crazy?” Lance groaned as he slumped back on the bed, as if he could just sink into the pillows and disappear.

“Let’s hope good.” Pidge added. “Don’t stress yourself out like this Lance, you might hurt yourself even more. I’m sure everything will be alright.”  

“Yeah I know; you guys are right but...Do you guys mind staying with me when they show up? Doesn't have to be the whole time, I know your family is coming Hunk and—” Lance blinked as Pidge rested a hand on his shoulder and Hunk rested his on his head. A small smile crept on his face. “…Thanks guys.”

The three shared a smile before a noise down the hall got their attention. Lance pulse started to race and he gripped Pidge and Hunk's hands as the noise grew louder and stopped just in front of his room.

After what felt like an eternity the door finally opened and a man and woman stepped inside. The man had a dark complexion and was well over 6 ft tall. Laugh wrinkles surrounded his eyes but from the dark bangs under his eyes, it didn’t seem like he laughed very much in a long time. It was easy to see where Lance got most of his looks. 

Hunk immediately recognized him as Miguel, Lance’s father. He looked very tired and older even though it’s only been a few months. Then, there was a woman beside Miguel, Lance’s mother Lola.

She was about two feet shorter than him and her hair was auburn, exactly like Lance’s, that fell to her waist. Her face was round and warm; her nose pointed so much like Lance’s and her eyes were a bit puffy around the edges like she had been crying. Though, her face instantly lit up the moment she saw Lance.

Lance couldn’t move. He was vaguely aware of the rest of his relatives outside in the hall since the door was left ajar. They were all restless to see him, Lance could hear his niece and nephew and guessed that they were held back from coming inside just yet. They were likely just as eager to see him but wanted to give his parents time first.

Time felt like it just stopped as he stared at his parents. Lance immediately felt overwhelmed just by how they stared at him. Their eyes bore into him, looking at every inch from his face to the bandages on his shoulder.

“ _Hola,_ _mamá_ _, pap_ _á_.” Lance finally broke the silence and offered them one of his most dazzling grins; he hoped looked more confident than he felt. His mother gasped and covered her mouth with a hand. As if his voice confirmed it was really him that sat there, alive. “So, I’m guessing I looked a lot worse on TV, huh?”

_“Por Dios! Mijo!”_ Lola immediately rushed to her son’s side and embraced him as careful as she could. Miguel was beside them in moment and ran his hand gently through Lance’s hair as he muttered something in Spanish too quietly for any of the others to hear.

Lance couldn’t hold back his tears anymore and let out a pained gasped as he clung to his parents tightly, ignoring the pain in his shoulder. “I’m so sorry I disappeared just like that. And that it took so long to get back and that I came back like this. I can explain its just so much has happened. I don’t even know where to begin or how to explain it all. I would have come back sooner but—”

Lance’s rambling stopped when Miguel leaned down and kissed his forehead gently.

Lance took a deep breath and Lola smiled at her son weakly, she gently stroked his cheek to brush away the tears. “Enough, it’s alright, _mijo_.”

“You’re here now and that’s what matters to us now.” Miguel finally spoke up, he smiled at his son warmly through his tears.

“I missed you guys so much.” Lance breathed out a laugh.

Lola gently cupped her son’s face to get a better look at him. He’s changed a lot in the past few months; Lance’s face was thinner but his arms and legs looked much more toned as if he had been very active since he’s been gone.

Lance watched his parents. For the moment it felt they were the only ones in existence. He could see the questions in their eyes. There must have been so many questions they wanted to ask him: Where did he go? What happened? Though, they knew now wasn’t the time for questions.

“Oh, _mamá_ _, pap_ _á_. This is Pidge and you guys already know Hunk.” Lance said, he motioned over to the two who had been quiet during the entire exchange and grinned at them. “They practically saved my life.”

Hunk and Pidge only had seconds to brace themselves before Lola hugged them both. “Gracias! Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for my son!”  

“We weren’t going to let anything happen to Lance, Mrs. McClain.” Hunk replied with a kind smile and gently wrapped an arm around the smaller woman. Pidge simply nodded, still caught a bit off guard from the hug.

Miguel returned the nod as he sat down beside Lance. “It’s good to see you again Hunk, and good to meet you Pidge.”

“Um, I only wished it was under better circumstances.” Pidge replied before they perked when a commotion grew outside.

“I want to see _Tio_!” A child whined.

“Laannnnncceeee!” Another shrieked.

“Nino! Isabella!” Lance perked up as the door quickly swung open and two children ran straight for him. The two kids jumped onto the bed and into Lance’s outstretched arms. Lance winced a bit but hugged them tightly. “You two got so big! Nino! Your two front teeth grew in!”

“Yeah! They grew back while you were gone!” Nino grinned from ear to ear before he pouted. “Why were you gone so long? You missed my birthday!”

“Wait, what month is it?” Lance looked at him surprised before he looked around for some sort of calendar, “It’s hard to keep time in space.”

“It’s October, mijo.” Lola replied as she rested a hand on his shoulder.

“What?! Already?” Lance looked up at her stunned. “Well, I guess we didn’t miss Halloween…”

“ _Tio_ , why are you crying?” Isabella asked, she rubbed a small hand on his cheeks.

“Because I missed you guys so much.” He replied, before he hugged them tightly with one arm.

Then, like a dam that burst, the rest of Lance’s family pushed through the door with so many gifts, flowers, and balloons that they barely fit on the small table Hunk and Pidge left their own gifts on. Several of them began to talk both in a mix of Spanish and English to Lance. It was hard for Pidge to keep up but it was easy to see they were very happy to see that he was okay.

Hunk seemed to know several of Lance’s relatives and greeted them warmly. He and Lance quickly introduced them all to Pidge. There was Lance’s big brother, Gabriel, and his wife, Elena, the parents of Nino and Isabella. Next was Lance’s older sister, Veronica and her fiancé Oscar, followed by Lance’s aunt Garcia and then Lance’s abuelos, Chavela and Jose. All the names and people and noise overwhelmed Pidge a bit but they enjoyed the warm and loving atmosphere they gave off.

Pidge looked over the family and noticed they each looked very different but also so much alike. They remembered Lance had mentioned his mother’s side of the family was from Cuba, but his father was Colombian/American. Though, Lance had other family members from different parts of South America so Lance family was nicely mixed with so many different cultures and looks.

Soon enough the family began to chat with Lance while Pidge and Hunk mostly just listened in.

“The day we found out you went missing your siblings and I came down and tried to search for you. The academy didn’t tell us anything.” Miguel explained, as he ran a hand through his hair, obviously still frustrated with the Garrison.  

“They just said you three were missing and they didn’t know where you went.” Veronica added in as she crossed her arms. Pidge noted she looked a lot like their father, same dark complexion and black hair but she had their mother’s brown eyes.

“I heard you guys broke into a top secret bunker!” Isabella chimed in from her spot on Lance’s lap.  

“Oh? And where did you hear that?” Hunk perked up.

“I heard some of your teachers! But they didn’t know I was there.” Isabella giggled a bit mischief, Lance couldn’t help but feel a little proud for his niece’s detective work.

“After we heard about that it started to sound a lot like a cover up.” Gabriel scoffed. He also shared appearances with Lance and Veronica but was much larger built than the two. “None of us really bought you guys just running away without giving us a call. After all, why would you suddenly give up your dream of becoming a pilot?”

“Well you’re not wrong. And we did break into a top secret bunker.” Lance hummed lightly.

_“Mijo!”_ Lola scolded him and Lance winced. Veronica just laughed and gave his younger brother a thumbs up.

“Well more like Lance ran in after Keith broke in.” Pidge brought up while they adjusted their glasses.

“Details! Besides we had to go in and help the Garrison had Shiro!” Lance argued but his mother looked at him firmly. “They detained him like a common criminal after the hell he went through while he was captured by the Galra!”

“Keith?” Lola asked curiously. 

“Galra?” Gabriel made a face at the name.

“Keith’s the boy you mentioned on your broadcast right?” Elena spoke up as she pushed her glasses up. “And the Galra are the people you’ve been battling?”

“…Yeah.” Lance said after a moment. One of the things he liked about Elena was she caught onto things quickly. Though, Lance had to remind himself his family members didn’t know all the details of their months in space. Part of him was glad they didn’t, but he knew they had to find out eventually.

“Do you have any idea what’s happened to Keith or Shirogane or the others you said you were separated from?” Oscar asked. Lance remembered Oscar would occasionally tease him for idolizing Shiro when he first joined the Garrison and video-called home.

“No…and we’re still trying to figure out a way to find them and get them back…” Lance said softly.  

Even being surrounded by his family, Lance couldn’t help but feel a bit alone. For months, Keith, Shiro, and the others were his family. Now that it was just the three of them left it made his heart ache.

“ _N_ _o se preocupe tanto, papito_.” Abuelita Chavela said softly, she rested a soft wrinkled hand over Lance’s hand.

“ _Sé que encontrarás a tus amigos, mi niño_.” Abuelito Jose added in.

“ _Gracias_ …I hope we find them too.” Lance force a smile at his grandparents and was grateful for their support.

It wasn’t hard for the McClain family to see how the three of them felt about being separated from the others.

With a warm smile, Abuelita reached into her bag. She may not be able to take their pain away but she might just be able to brighten their spirits a bit. “Lance, _mi cielo_ , have you ate something?” She spoke with a heavy accent.

“Um, no not really, Abuelita…Just some hospital food…” Lance gave her a puzzled look before he sat up and looked at her eagerly. “ _Por que?_ Did you bring garlic knots?”

Abuelita’s smile only widen and she set a box wrapped in a small cloth on Lance’s lap.

Lance quickly grabbed for the box and started to unwrap it. He could already smell a faint hint of garlic and herbs from the bread. “Oh geez I’m going to cry again!”

“I want some!” Nino called out and tried to reach for the box.

“Nino wait! You’ve had Abuelita here to make them for you! I’ve been in space! Let me have one first!” Lance whined very much like the child he argued with. Then, he finally managed to open the box to reveal about a dozen or so garlic knots inside.

Hunk practically drooled at the sight and Lance’s vision got hazy when fresh tears formed at the corner of his eyes.

Pidge gave the two a look. “Are they really that good?”     

“Just see for yourself.” Lance offered one to Hunk and Pidge, his mouth already stuffed with half a garlic knot.  

“ _Mijo_ , don’t talk with your mouth full!” Lola groaned softly. Losing her son to the vastness of space did nothing to improve his manners.

Lance mumbled what Pidge assumed was an apology before they took a bite of the twisted bread. Pidge was surprised it was still warm and tasted fresh. The garlic wasn’t overbearing and the ingredients were mixed nicely. Now they could see why Lance and Hunk were practically in tears over these. It tasted like home.

“You have no idea what kind of food we've had to eat in space.” Lance’s lip practically quivered while he ate another garlic knot before he passed the box around to share.  

“Food goo and paladin lunch…” Hunk shuddered before he took another from the box. “You can only eat it so much after getting sick of it.”

“Says the guy who eats it nonstop.” Lance chuckled playfully.  

“Food goo? Paladin Lunch? Sounds like you three haven’t had a wholesome earth meal in a long time.” A voice drew their attention to the door and Hunk gasped.  

A tall, dark skinned Polynesian woman with black hair tied back in a bun stood at the door. Her head nearly brushed the top of the door frame and she smiled at them kindly before she opened her arms to Hunk.  

“Mom!” Hunk ran to the door and tackled his mother in a bear hug. Pidge noticed Hunk and his mother had the same button nose and smiled at their reunion.

“Hunk!” More voices yelled from the hall before two children, about eight and ten from the looks of it, ran past their mother to cling to each of Hunk’s legs.

“Micah! Zoe! You guys are here!” Hunk laughed and pulled the two up to join in on the hug.

After a brief introduction everyone came to know the woman as Alana. Though, it became obvious the small hospital room was starting to get a bit overcrowded.

“Come you three. Don’t want overwhelm Lance. He needed his strength to recover.” Alana said as she motioned Hunk and the two children to follow her outside.

“It’s great to see you again, Mrs. Garrett!” Lance called out to the woman.

“Likewise, Lance.” Alana smiled warmly, “I’ll be back in a bit but I promise to make the three of you a proper traditional meal once you’re out of the hospital.”

“Can’t wait!” Lance grinned, his mouth already watered at the thought.

Pidge could only assume Alana was a master chief and that’s where Hunk got his culinary skills. Still, Pidge smiled at Lance before they moved to head out with Hunk. They’d rather not get in the way and let Lance spend some time alone with the family.

“See you later Lance.” Pidge waved at Lance before they looked over at his Abuelita. “Um, _gracias,_ for the garlic knots, ma’am.”

“ _Por favor_ , call me Abuelita.” Chavela replied and took Pidge’s hand for a moment.

“You’ve just been adopted to the family, Pidge. Congrats.” Lance chuckled softly.

Pidge perked and smiled back as they bid the family farewell. They were two steps into the hall before Pidge nearly ran right into Hunk and had to side step to close the door. Pidge was about to ask why Hunk blocked the door before the taller Paladin squealed in delight.

Pidge perked as they followed his gaze, noticing a tall, heavyset man with long black hair tied up in a braid holding a one-month old baby. Mrs. Holt stood beside him, her finger trapped in the baby’s small fist. Jiyῡ sat by her feet and wagged his tail the moment he saw Pidge.

“She’s so tiny! Dad, what’s her name?” Hunk said, arms out to reach for the small child but not enough to actually take her, as if afraid he might break her. “I can’t believe I was in space and missed my own baby sister being born.”

“Haku, let Hunk hold Kani.” Alana chuckled and Haku smiled as he passed the baby over to him.

It took a moment for Hunk to adjust to hold Kani properly but Pidge was impressed by the care he took holding her. This was definitely not the first baby he’s held since he was the oldest sibling of three, now four.

“I’m going to tear up.” Hunk mumbled, his lip already quivered a bit as he looked at the beautiful dark skinned baby with just a tuff of black hair on her head. The baby stared at him while Hunk made silly faces at the small child.

“Congrats, big guy.” Pidge chuckled, pleasantly surprised to see this caring side of Hunk. He was the yellow paladin after all for a reason.

Mrs. Holt quietly crossed the hall and wrapped an arm around Pidge and smiled at the two while Jiyu ran around their feet in a bid for attention. Luckily, Micah and Noe happily gave him some while Hunk gushed over Kani. It wasn’t long before Hunk was a sobbing mess, so overjoyed to meet his little sister for the first time.

“Hey, you were on TV!” Noe said suddenly as she looked up at Pidge with wide eyes, Jiyῡ whined at her for attention until she scratched his ear. “The one with the Green Lion!”

“Yeah that’s me.” Pidge offered a sheepish grin. It seemed like they were really getting recognized.

“Are you and Hunk and that other boy superheroes?” Micah added in, they looked between Pidge and Hunk as his older brother handed their baby sister back to their father.

“You can say that.” Pidge replied and looked up at Hunk with a smile before Jiyῡ whined for Pidge’s attention.

“I want to see the Lions!” Noe suddenly called out.

“I mean; I don’t see why not.” Hunk chuckled and patted her head gently. “Let me introduce you to Yellow!”

“Yay!!” Noe cheered and tugged at Hunk’s hand.

“Come on let’s go!” Micah grabbed onto his other hand and the two began to drag Hunk towards the elevator.

“Slow down! You don’t even know where they are!” Hunk winced but couldn’t help but laugh.

“You go on ahead Hunk; I’ll catch up in a bit.” Pidge called out to him before they got too far away.

“Alright, see you in a bit then.” Hunk offered them a smile as his mother and father joined them on the elevator.

“It was nice to meet you.” Mrs. Holt waved at the family as the elevator doors closed. Pidge joined her before the elevator door closed. Moments later, they were alone in the hallway, save for a few nurses and doctors that passed.

Pidge took a breath; their mind reeled a bit from all the people they’ve met, they just hoped they’d be able to remember most of their names. The two made their way to a small waiting room to catch their breaths. Jiyu curled up by their feet and Pidge reached down to pat his head before they took a quick glance at their mother. Pidge notice she hadn’t said much at all; mostly just polite hellos and goodbyes. Still, Pidge was grateful for her calming presence in all the chaos.

They had to admit it was nice meeting all these different people today, they just couldn’t help but feel a bit wore out from it all. Though, now that things had quieted down it made Pidge feel a little hollow inside. Pidge sat back on their chair, their head against their mother. All these reunions only served to remind them of their family’s last goodbye.  

…

**_Kerberos Launch_ **

“I’m gonna miss you so much, Katie.” Matt hugged her tightly, his face buried in her hair as she hugged back.  

“See you when you guys get back.” She grinned as she pulled back just enough to look at him. “Bring me something!”

“Maybe I’ll bring you back a space rock.” Matt chuckled and winked at her playfully. “Though, that might break some protocols and I could get arrested.”

“You’re no fun.” Katie stuck her tongue out at him before the two switched to hug each of their parents.

“I love you, Katie. A year’s gonna pass by before you know it.” Mr. Holt said softly as he embraced his daughter.

“I know,” Katie replied, her face pressed into his chest. “I love you, dad.”

Mr. Holt smiled and kissed her head gently before he moved away to embrace his wife. Katie smiled at the two before she noticed the mission’s pilot nearby saying his goodbyes to a younger boy. She didn’t mean to be nosy but she could just manage to hear them.

“I’ll be back before you know it, Keith.” Shiro said as he embraced the shorter boy warmly.

Katie assumed they must be family but wondered where the rest of their family was but it looked like it was just the two of them. Strange, one would think more people would come to say goodbye when a loved one was going to be in space for a year. Well, there was one other person there, kind of. Katie couldn’t help but smile at the small dog that ran around their feet.

“Stay safe out there.” Keith replied as he pulled away from the hug before the small dog jumped up to Shiro, eager for attention.

“You behave while the Holt family looks after you alright, Jiyῡ?” Shiro chuckled as he leaned down to rub the shiba inu’s ears.

Jiyῡ barked cheerfully as he leaned to Shiro’s touch. The dog groaned contently at the ear rub before he ran off towards Matt and Katie. Katie giggled as the dog circled them and kneeled down to stroke his head. Shiro allowed a fond smile in their direction, and when Katie looked up she realize Shiro looked straight at Matt.

Matt just nodded his head and smiled back. Though, Katie couldn’t help but notice something about their shared look. She smirked playfully at her brother and lowered her voice so they wouldn’t be overheard. “So what’s it gonna be like having your crush around in small quarters. All the time. For a year. With dad.”

Matt made a face at her and quickly tried to busy himself with cleaning his glasses. “Very funny, Katie.”

“I dunno that was a pretty friendly smile.” Katie hummed and watched as Jiyῡ ran back towards Shiro and Keith while they started to chat, but this time too quietly for her to be able to hear. 

“We _are_ friends.” Matt argued, though Katie smirked as she stood up and brushed off her dress. 

“That sounded defensive. Just friends?” Katie raised an eyebrow, she thoroughly enjoyed teasing her brother one last time before he was gone for a year. It was just too fun to pass up.

“Katie.” Matt rolled his eyes as he put his glasses back on.

“Just look at those dreamy puppy dog eyes staring at you.” Katie teased, though Matt couldn’t help but look over and right on que Shiro looked over again and smiled. Matt bit his lip as he silently cursed Katie and the look of delight on her face. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Matt kept his voice calm but his sister still grinned. She could see the blush on his cheeks before she perked up when Matt absently touched his lips lightly.

Katie just stared at him for a moment. The loving stares when they thought the other wasn’t looking, the tender smiles, the shyness; it wasn’t hard to put two and two together. “I thought it was funny you having your crush around 24/7 with dad around but having your _boyfriend_ with you—”

“He’s not my—” Matt covered her mouth with a finger, hoping no one had overheard her. To his dismay, Katie started to giggle shamelessly before she hugged him tightly.

“Kaaattttiiieee! Quit it!” Matt whined, flustered as her laughter started to draw everyone’s attention. He glanced at their parents and they just smiled. They probably thought the two were teasing each other. Matt quickly realized his mistake when he glanced over at Shiro.

Shiro just gave him another caring smile, the same Katie teased him about. Matt hoped his face wasn’t red and he couldn’t help but smile. He wasn’t exactly sure why, he just felt so very happy in this moment. He wrapped his arms around Katie and started to twirl her around as he laughed along with her.

He held her tightly and pulled her up to whisper softly in her ear. “Let’s keep it our little secret alright?”

“Alright.” Katie giggled as she hugged him again. “But you have to promise to tell me the details.”

“Alright, but there isn’t much to say right now. I’ll let you know when I get back.” Matt chuckled. He shook his head as he briefly glanced at Shiro again.

There really wasn’t much to say. It was part of regulation not to be in an active relationship with a fellow crewmate. If things got messy there was nowhere to go. They both knew they needed to stay focused for the mission.

He turned his attention back to Katie, Matt smiled at her. “I love you, Katie. I’m gonna miss you.”

“What are you going to do without me?” Katie grinned.

“I don’t know. Maybe find some aliens.” Matt chuckled and ruffled her hair before their parents called them over for a photo of the two of them together before it was time for the crew to prep and board on the shuttle.

“Katie?” Mr. Holt called to his daughter and Katie immediately ran into his arms for one last hug. Mr. Holt smiled and embraced his daughter warmly. “You behave yourself with your mother, don’t go running off now.”

“I won’t. I love you.” Katie smiled.

…

Pidge felt tears start to weld up in their eyes and a soft whimper escaped their lips. The memory of their last goodbye had been too much. They felt something crack inside and Pidge wasn’t sure if they could hold themselves together. Jiyῡ’s ear perked up at the sudden noise and he looked up at her curiously as he yipped softly.

Mrs. Holt perked and looked down at her child puzzled. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

Pidge didn’t look up at their mother or Jiyῡ.  

This small, energetic dog only reminded them that Shiro wasn’t where he was supposed to be. Everyone else was supposed to be there; Shiro, Keith, Allura, Coran, the space mice, their father, Matt, but they weren’t and it wasn’t fair.

Pidge couldn’t even look at their mother right now. All she reminded them of was the one promise their father asked of them. _Don’t go running off. Don’t leave your mother alone._ The one promise and they failed. Pidge remembered the blood on their armor when their mother embraced them after being months apart, not once caring about ruining her own clothes. Only joy to have her child back.  

Back then, Pidge felt something crack inside them. Now the feeling was back full force as something finally just snapped and a sob escaped them. "I'm so sorry"

Mrs. Holt only pulled her child closer into her arms and ran her fingers gently through their short golden brown locks.

“I…I broke dad’s promise.” Pidge continued, the tears started to pour out and they wouldn’t stop. “I left you all alone…Everyone else, Hunk and Lance’s families…they had each other but you…you were all alone. I promised dad I wouldn’t leave you alone!”

Mrs. Holt hushed her child gently as she embraced Pidge tightly; tears at the corner of her eyes. “You’re here now and it’s more than I could ever dream of.”

“But Matt, dad…I still haven’t found them.” Pidge gritted her teeth. “I tried, but the team needed me. I don’t even know if they’re still—”

Another choked sob stole her words and Pidge couldn’t find it in herself to speak anymore.

Jiyῡ looked up at her, confused to see Pidge so distraught as he rested his head on their lap. Pidge watched the dog and tried to bite back another sob as they rested their hands on his cheeks. Jiyῡ tilted his head and licked her hand gently.

“You know I wasn’t completely alone even when you were gone.” Mrs. Holt said with a small smile. “I had Jiyῡ to keep me company.” 

Pidge breathed out a laugh and stroked their fingers through his soft black and cream colored fur. “How could I forget?”

Mrs. Hold smiled weakly and kissed her child’s head.

“Good dog…” Pidge barely said above a whisper as she hiccupped. 

Mrs. Holt watched the two and continued to comfort her child. They’ve both been through so much on their own, each struggling with their own pain. It hurt her so much to see Pidge like this, having so much trapped inside only for it to boil over now after they had lost so much; friends, her home for these past few months.

“If you found your way back home I’m sure they will too.” Mrs. Holt said softly, still running her fingers tenderly through Pidge’s hair. They looked so much like Matt. She took a breath and closed her eyes, hoping somewhere out there the rest of their family was still alive and well.  

Pidge hiccupped again and buried their head in their mother’s shoulder. They only hoped she was right.

…

Later, after Pidge calmed down and Lance got some strength back through steer stubbornness and magical space medical gel, they decided to join Hunk in the hanger where their lions were being kept to show their families. Well, hanger wasn’t quite the right word since none of the buildings, not even the aircraft buildings were big enough to house the three enormous Lions. It was more of an area beside one of their research buildings, far from the view of the school or the hospital.

When Pidge, Lance and their families arrived, Jiyu was the bravest of the group and ran straight up to the Green and Yellow Lion first. The small dog kept crouching down in front of them, his butt in the air, tail wagging, and looked very much like he wanted to play with these ten stories tall lions. Though, the two lions remained as still as ever.

Pidge was pretty sure they weren’t quite sure what to make of the small earth creature. They could sense Green’s curiosity and couldn’t help but find the whole situation adorable. Though, Jiyῡ didn’t linger too far from Pidge even after he tried to play with the Lions and all the kids ran over to pet him. Pidge had to admit, Shiro had one friendly and playful dog, befriending both humans and alien robot lions alike.

Then the rest of the families approached the Lions to get a better look. Micah and Noe kept trying to climb onto Yellow’s feet while the Lion watched them a bit curiously and looked very mindful not to accidentally step on them.

Then, Jiyu then ran up to the Blue Lion and tried to paw at her since her head was resting on the ground.

Lance smiled at the dog as he walked over to the Blue Lion. He noticed now the hole in her neck had been patched up. Pidge had mentioned working with the Garrison and Green Lion to seal it. The Garrison offered the materials and Pidge and Green worked to reroute and repair vital connections, there were still a few things they needed to fix.

Pidge assured Lance that soon enough the only thing left to fix would be his connection to the Blue Lion. Lance certainly hoped that would be the easy part of her recovery.

“Did you really go into space?” Nino tugged at Lance’s leg.

“I wanna go!” Isabella shrieked.

“Maybe later you two.” Lance chuckled softly and patted his Lion gently. “Blue’s not awake yet. She got hurt like me and needs her rest.”

The two pouted a bit before they ran off to chase Jiyῡ around the area. Lance smiled as he watched them go before he looked back up at the Blue Lion. He sighed softly and closed his eyes. He still couldn’t sense her even now. A part of him hoped being this close to her might of helped but he felt…nothing.

“So, what’cha doing, Lance?” Gabriel suddenly said beside Lance’s ear, nearly causing him to leap out of his skin.

“Well, I _was_ trying to get in touch with my Lion again before you interrupted me.” Lance scowled a bit and lost concentration.  

“So, your mind is connected to this thing.” Gabriel whistled as he looked up at the Blue Lion and tabbed his fist against her muzzle.

“Her name is Blue and yeah but I haven’t been able to sense her for days.” Lance snapped as he swatted his hand away before he winced, he didn’t intend to sound so cruel to his brother. “Sorry, I’m just worried about her…”

Gabriel looked at him surprised and shook his head. “No, no, I’m sorry, Lance. I didn’t realize it…she was alive.”

“Yeah she is. We’ve been through a lot together.” Lance replied and looked up at Blue with a weak smile. At least he still hoped she was still alive. It was hard to say when he couldn’t sense their connection. Pidge assured him that Yellow and Green still sensed Blue but Lance still worried if she was going to make it.

Gabriel watched his brother silently for a moment and noticed he was still down before he wrapped an arm around his shoulders, mindful of his injuries. “So, Lance, you’re really some kind of Defender of the Universe?”

Lance smirked playfully, “Jealous?”

“Maybe but I’m glad I don’t have to wear armor. You look like a Power Ranger.” Gabriel grinned at the face Lance made.

“Hey, I’ll have you know I make it look good!”

Pidge snorted as Lance and his brother began to bicker about the Paladin armor. Though, they had to admit Gabriel was right. It did make them look a little like Power Rangers.

From that point, Lance sat down beside the Blue Lion and began to tell a few of his and Hunk’s relatives about their missions. At first he talked how they all met and formed Voltron for the first time, followed by the many failed attempts to combine afterwards while they were being trained.

Hearing about their first days as the Paladins of Voltron made them feel a bit nostalgic. Though, occasionally, Hunk and Pidge would jump in and correct Lance about a certain mission when Lance tried to exaggerate things. Though, it was nice to see Lance so spirited while he talked. Pidge and Hunk knew Lance was still worried about Blue but were glad his family improved his mood.

Pidge also got to learn a few more things about Hunk’s family. Apparently Hunk’s mother was indeed a professional chef; lucky guess. Alana has even been on a few cooking shows. Meanwhile, Haku was more or less a stay at home dad but he did work part time as a dance instructor. Hunk and his siblings even demonstrated traditional Hawaiian dances they knew.

Haku even offered to teach Pidge and Mrs. Holt. Pretty soon things got lively among the families again though this time Pidge didn’t feel quite alone. They might only have their mother right now but it was nice getting to know these families more.

Though, the visit with the Lions was cut short when the Admiral had gotten word that Lance was finally up and about. The three Paladins were taken to the main building both to brief the Garrison of the events that lead them to earth and for the Garrison to brief them of their findings of the Galra tech they’ve been studying.

…

Lance easily brought up a star map he’d downloaded from the ship and after some time, found the planet where the incident took place. The three of them walked through the events of that day, though they decided to exclude the part where Keith was part Galra or that he’d been the one to attack Lance. It didn’t seem relevant at time moment and none of them wanted the Garrison to take it the wrong way. Though, they did warn them about Haggar and her magic, as bizarre at it sounded, they needed to be aware of how dangerous she is.

“Any luck on the scanner for any Galra chatter?” Pidge asked.

“Even with the amplifications with the upgrades you added and the aid of the Green and Yellow Lion we still haven’t found anything.” The head communication officer replied. “There just doesn’t seem to be many ships in our corner of the universe at the moment. We’re still looking and trying to find more ways to boost the signal to reach further out.”

“That’s definitely going to be a problem for us. We’re practically at the edge of the known universe.” Lance replied as he absently scrolled through the star map. “The Lions can travel pretty fast. They can reach Kerberos in a matter of seconds but we’re still billions of lightyears away from where it all began.”

“It’d be pointless to make our way back there. It was just a small mining planet. The Galra would have likely taken the others back to the Main Fleet by now and its constantly on the move.” Pidge added it and stared at the map intently as it if somehow held the answer to all their problems, somewhere in one of the stars and planets.

“Even if we do manage to find it, we can’t just storm it again like last time.” Hunk replied as he shook his head. “We were lucky the shields somehow went down when they did, but even after that we had to deal with Haggar corrupting the wormhole and flinging us to the far reaches of the universe.”

Pidge still thought it was weird how the shields just went down without warning during their escape. It didn’t make sense. It was too precise to have been power failure caused by the conflict.

“Perhaps it would be best for the three of you to take some time to recover.” The Admiral spoke up. “A few weeks, perhaps a month to allow Lance to recover from his injuries.”

“What?!” The three of them yelled.

“From what you’ve just described with your confrontations with the Galra and our current situation there seems to be little the three of you can do at the moment.” The Admiral continued.

“So we just sit around and do nothing while Shiro and the others are still out there?” Pidge snapped.

“You wished for our aid to find them and you will have it. What we need is time.” The Admiral shot back. Pidge had to work very hard to stop themselves from saying something they might regret. Lance was behind them, a hand hovered over their shoulder in case he needed to deescalate the situation.  

“The Garrison has been working on prototype ships with the same core drives as the one in the ship we confiscated.” One of the heads of research spoke up. “This should help us reach the same speed as the Galra ship and we can provide aid in the search for information on where your fellow teammates may be.”

“While the prototypes are being built and tested all we can do is listen in for any Galra chatter.” The communication officer added in.

“And from the sound of things, the three of you have been through hell and back.” The Admiral replied, his voice had calmed a bit and the three were sure there was sympathy in his voice. “You need the time to take a step back or you won’t be able to focus properly and burn yourselves out.”

The three of them wanted to argue but couldn’t help but see the logic in their reasoning.

“What about the Lions?” Pidge asked.

“They’ll remain in the Garrison while the three of you return home. No harm will come to them and we’d rather not have the Lions return with you three to your homes and drawn any unwanted attention.” The Admiral replied.

Again, the three of them saw the logic, but it didn’t mean they like it. They ended the meeting after going over a few more details of the months ahead. _Months._ None of them liked the sound of that.

The three Paladins soon found themselves alone on the rooftop of the Garrison. The same rooftop they watched Shiro crash land on that stolen Galra ship, where it all began the night they met Shiro and Keith and flew across the desert to escape the Garrison.

It was funny to think back then they were trying to get away from the Garrison and now they were on their doorstep asking for their help.

Now the three of them were back on this roof, just like before, under the stars, just the three of them again. In a few hours they would be separated again to go home. To go back to normal lives. They hated it; it felt like they weren’t doing anything to get the others back.

None of them said it out loud, they didn’t need to. They all wondered the same thing. It’s been a week since the team had been separated.

_Where are they?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This entire chapter felt like a blur to write, set to the song “I’m Still Here” from Treasure Planet but the Spanish dubbed since that was one of the only songs I listened to while writing Lance’s reunion with his parents its so bizarre I wrote like 10K in three days mostly listening to this song but I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!! 
> 
> Please leave kudos, comment and feedback! I love to hear what you guys think!
> 
> Translations
> 
> “Hola, mamá, papá.” - Hi, mom, dad. 
> 
> “Por Dios! Mijo!” – Oh my god! Son!
> 
> Tio/Abuelos/Abuelita/Abuelito – Uncle/Grandparents/Grandmother/Grandfather
> 
> “No se preocupe tanto, papito.” – Don’t worry too much, [okay papito technically means ‘dad’ but it’s also a term of endearment for young boys in the family, my family uses this word or ‘papi’ don’t make it weird okay shutting up now]
> 
> “Sé que encontrarás a tus amigos, mi niño.” – I know you’ll find your friends again, my boy.
> 
> “Lance, mi cielo, have you ate something?” – Lance, my sky [term of endearment]
> 
> “Por que? Did you bring garlic knots?” – Why?


	5. I'll Always Protect You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back on the Galra ship, Keith is coming to terms with what he had done. Shiro struggles with the demons of not only being recaptured, but being captured with those he's promised to protect. Allura refuses to be a prisoner again and we get a glimpse of Coran's past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I added Alforan into my tags because I love them and we see a little fluff in this chapter. No major warnings in this chapter that I can think of it, just feels really so enjoy!!
> 
> Thank you satans_handbag and kawaiirun for beta reading!! And special thanks to the Shatt Chat for all the help and support!!

Keith’s head spun as his vision went in and out of focus. He wasn’t quite sure what was going on or where he was being taken. All he could think about was what he had done to the others. He lied to them about what he was and now they were all suffering the consequences.

 _“I promise to protect you, alright? We’ll protect each other.”_ Shiro’s words echoed through the fog in his head. That promise felt like it was made a lifetime ago by two other boys far away on another planet.

Keith’s vision blurred and he was standing on a porch on that far away planet. Shiro was standing in front of him; he was younger, even younger than Pidge. His hair was wild and messy. There was no scar on Shiro’s face and his eyes were bright and youthful. Keith felt like he was looking at a completely different person. It wasn’t hard to imagine how much a person could change with the life Shiro had.

Keith ran straight for Shiro and embraced him, his appearance changing the moment he was in his arms. Keith was smaller, half Shiro’s size. Shiro laughed and hugged him back just as tight as he ruffled his hair.

“Be careful and go have fun playing with your friends, alright?” Shiro told him before letting him go.

Keith let the memory play out. He ran off waving goodbye before he started to look for his friends. Shiro watched him with a fond smile and stayed on the porch.

Shiro always took care of Keith; in a way, he was kind of like another parent to him. Sometimes it drove Keith crazy, but he still loved Shiro and loved that he cared so much. Not to mention how Shiro would always manage to handle his bad temper, even from a young age.

“Shiro? Can I go show the kids something cool I found?” Keith asked almost out of the blue and seemed to be holding something behind his back.

“Yeah, sure…” Shiro replied as he slowly set down his book and looked over his brother.

Without another word, Keith ran down their lawn, keeping whatever it was he wanted to show his friends out of view. Shiro should have been suspicious of Keith’s behavior but couldn’t really think of a reason not to trust him.

Looking back, Keith wondered why Shiro didn’t just ask what he was hiding behind his back. Maybe he did trust him too much. Not five minutes later, high pitched screaming came from down the street in the direction Keith had run off to.    

Shiro ran all the way down there in a panic and nearly collided into one of Keith’s friends. He barely had a moment to recover as they ran past him when he saw Keith running towards him with a familiar dagger, the one the family kept on the mantle. Shiro was stunned to say the least to see his six-year-old brother running around and scaring kids with a weapon.

_“KEITH NO!”_

Keith’s vision shifted again and their childhood street disappeared around them. It was replaced by the cold, dark walls of the Galra ship. A pained laugh escaped Keith’s lips as tears formed at the edge of his eyes. He couldn’t help but laugh at that memory.

It was such a stupid thing he had done but strangely enough, he and Shiro grew closer after the dagger incident. Keith felt ecstatic to have an older brother who cared about him no matter what he did.

Keith opened his eyes when he heard a door slide open and realized he was being dragged towards an examination table. He quickly came to his senses and his first instinct was to kick, bite, scream, fight against his captors.

Whatever they planned to do with him, he wasn’t going to make it easy for them. He kicked out and his foot collided with one of the Druid’s jaws. Keith couldn’t help but grin at the crack he heard before he was slammed down onto the examination table and restrained.

He heard the Druids speak frantically to one another but Keith was distracted by a foul smell in the air. He quickly realized that as a Galra, his sense of smell was heightened. He followed the odd stench before his eyes locked on the source of the smell. The Druid he had struck was bleeding. It didn’t smell coppery like human blood but it had a sour scent and it irritated his nose.

Keith ignored the smell and looked around panic-stricken as he tried to find a way out. He couldn’t stay here and he needed to get back to the others; Shiro, Hunk, Pidge, Coran, Allura, Lance…

Keith closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. His mind couldn’t stop replaying what he did over and over again. He felt furious, at what Haggar made him do but also at himself for letting this happen. The rage overwhelmed him and made it hard to focus.

 _“Patience yields focus.”_ Keith could practically hear Shiro say.

Shiro told him that time and time again whenever his temper got the better of him as a kid. He told him a lot of things in life would make him angry and upset. Though, that didn’t mean he wasn’t allowed to get angry. He just couldn’t let it overwhelm him either or it would cloud his judgment and he would end up doing something he’d regret.

Keith recalled he lunged at the officers that came to tell them their parents were dead after a bad car wreck. He had been in so much denial that he barely even remembered what happened.

The next thing he knew, Shiro grabbed Keith and hugged him so tightly it hurt, but Keith held on just as tight. _“Keith, you’re allowed to get angry but don’t do anything you’ll regret later.”_

Keith didn’t regret kicking that Druid in the jaw.

Shiro…He would always stay so calm while Keith was the exact opposite. Keith didn’t understand why Shiro didn’t get angry or ever lash out when something hurt him.

Why had Shiro been so calm, even when he found out Keith was a Galra?  The monster in the nightmares that kept him up at night. He had remained calm when he realized he would have to send the rest of the team away to who knows where. How could he have been so calm when he saw him in that prisoner transport, the very first time he’d seen his true from? Why was he so calm, even though everything that happened was all Keith’s fault?

It made Keith infuriated that Shiro was like this. Shiro was always the one to make sacrifices, always the caring one. It showed, especially after their parents died. Shiro had to step up to that role once he was legally able to adopt Keith through help from the Garrison. Somehow, he stayed strong and collected throughout that mess.

Keith supposed he understood why the Black Lion had chosen him. He was able to keep a clear head even while everything was crumbling around him.

Even when they were kids, when their world was first falling apart, Shiro promised he’d keep them safe. He’d promise he’d stay with him when they went to foster care, but he couldn’t keep that promise. Before either of them knew it they were separated and they were both alone in the world. Now they were separated and alone all over again and this time it was Keith’s doing.

Keith wondered if the universe hated him; it never gave him a break. It just kept taking everything he ever cared about.

Lance’s face suddenly appeared in his mind; laughing, smiling, hair soaked and face covered in soap suds. Keith clenched his jaw, his vision blurring as the suds on Lance’s face turned into blood and his face distorted into an expression of excruciating agony.

 _“It’s not your fault.”_ He kept saying over and over through the pain.

Keith forced his eyes shut but the image of Lance still lingered. Why did everything he cared about keep getting taken away?

The fury that had once fueled him faded and left him hollow. He barely even noticed the door open until two Druids came by the examination table, pushing some sort of machine with an IV looking contraption. Keith didn’t have time to react when he felt the syringe plunge into his neck.

 _“Never let them hurt you.”_ Keith heard Shiro’s voice whisper to him before everything went black.

…

Every movement made everything ache but Shiro ignored the pain. He ignored how his entire arm felt numb and his metal prosthetic felt like deadweight. He ignored the pain each time he rammed against the door of his cell. He ignored the pain in his wrists from being bound together behind his back. The pain meant nothing to him. He needed to get out, find Keith and get them all out of there.

“Shiro! That’s not going to work. Stop!” Coran called out from the opposite cell.

Shiro roared furiously and ignored him until a shock ripped through his body from his cuffs. He didn’t have time to brace himself when he collapsed. His head slammed painfully into the floor and his world spun.

“Shiro, you need to stop.” Coran pleaded.

“I can’t stop…I promised…” Shiro breathed heavily as he tried to catch his breath. “That I’d always protect him…”

Shiro tried to get back on his feet but cried out and crumpled to his knees. Another shock from the cuffs coursed through his body. His vision spotted and began to darken. Shiro barely heard one of the guards shouting, warning him to stop. Shiro couldn’t get up even if he wanted to; every move was torture.

“Shiro, you can’t protect Keith like this…” Coran admonished softly.

Shiro said nothing as he stared at the floor of the cell. He struggled to stay conscious; the toll his body took that day was starting to crash down on him. His muscles ached from being in constant motion. Shiro couldn’t even remember the last time he sat down. He wanted to fight against the sleep his body desperately needed but he could barely keep his eyes open.

“Coran…” Shiro just managed to say above a whisper. He didn’t want him to worry. “I think…I’m going to rest…”   

Coran sighed deeply as he ran a hand through his hair. Of course Shiro would use the last of his strength to tell him he was okay before passing out. “Get some rest Shiro…The stars know you’re going to need it.”

...

The darkness in Shiro’s mind slowly began taking form. He was running down a familiar street, chasing down Keith while he tried to retrieve the dagger. This memory felt like a lifetime ago. It was strange to think this happened twelve years ago. Everything felt so clear that it felt like it’d happened yesterday.

“Are you crazy?! Give me that!” Shiro yelled the moment he caught up to Keith, snatching the knife from his hands. He didn’t hesitate to grab onto Keith’s arm and drag him back into the house. Keith kicked and screamed the entire way, yet Shiro did not let go of him until they were back inside.

Keith only glared at Shiro when he turned to face him.

“What is wrong with you?!” Shiro snapped, his usual patience nowhere in sight. “This isn’t a toy! Mom and dad said this was supposed to stay on the mantle!”

“It’s my knife! My dad left it for me! I should be allowed to have it!” Keith barked back.

“Keith, don’t change the subject!” Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. “Why did you bring it out? To chase your friends of all things. You could have hurt someone or yourself!”

“Just leave me alone!” Keith shrieked before he ran off and Shiro groaned when he heard a door slam shut.

“This isn’t over, Keith!” Shiro shouted as he walked to the mantle.

“You’re not my dad!” Keith rebuked, slamming the door again.

Shiro groaned again and rubbed his temple as he set the knife back in its box. He glanced at the photo beside it, of Keith when he was a toddler and of an older man; his father. The man had tired golden eyes, long black hair that went down to his shoulders and always looked a bit purple in the light.

It had been four years since anyone had seen him. Shiro hadn’t known him for long; he showed up out of the blue one day and left Keith with his family. With a knife. Shiro shook his head and stepped away from the mantle to go look for Keith.

Shiro didn’t know what happened to Keith’s dad. No one had seen him in years, but his parents told him he wouldn’t be coming back. Shiro remembered that before Keith’s dad disappeared, he asked him to protect Keith no matter what. He wasn’t planning on going back on his word, not now, not ever.

Shiro walked to Keith’s room and took a deep breath before he stepped inside. He spotted a lump move under a pile of blankets on the bed. Shiro made his way carefully to the bed; he had to step around dozens of space books scattered about the floor. He recognized a few were his. He’d have to talk to Keith about getting some of them back.

“Hey, Keith?” Shiro asked as he sat at the end of the bed and nudged the lump.

“Go away…” Keith muttered halfheartedly from beneath the mass of blankets.

Shiro blew a lock of hair out of his eyes and looked up at the glow in the dark stars, scattered on the ceiling and walls. He needed to figure out how to approach this right. He didn’t want Keith to shut him out again. “Alright, look. I’m not going to tell mom and dad but you’re going to apologize for scaring those kids.”

Keith peeked his head from under the blanket and stared at him unsure. Shiro knew he couldn’t guarantee their parents not finding out but at least Keith was looking at him now. Shiro could tell he was still angry but he could see hurt in his eyes.

“Why should I apologize to them?! They were making fun of me!” Keith snarled, some of the fire returning in his eyes.

“Keith, you can’t get angry like this every time someone makes you upset.” Shiro sighed, resting a hand on Keith’s head, noticing how Keith’s voice had cracked. “Sometimes you have to just let it go.”

Keith glared and swatted Shiro’s hand away before he hid back under his blankets. Shiro ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. This was not the first time Keith’s temper got him in trouble. Still, from the look on Keith’s face, Shiro couldn’t help but wonder what happened. Keith got angry frequently, but this was the first time he’d seen him get upset enough to almost hurt someone.

“Keith, what happened?” Shiro asked softly but Keith didn’t move. “Please just talk to me.”

“They kept making fun of me because I said I like a boy!” Keith exclaimed as he pulled off the blankets and stood up to be at eye level with Shiro. “Are you going to make fun of me now too?!”

Shiro was taken aback, dropping his arms to his sides as things became clear to him. He could finally understand. Sighing softly, Shiro rubbed the back of his neck and shook his head. “No, I’m not, but I’m also not letting you off that easily. Come on, get up. We’re going outside and you’re apologizing before one of them complains to their parents.”

“But Shiro—!” Keith whined but Shiro raised a hand to stop him. He stood up and waited for him to follow along.

Keith groaned loudly before he jumped off the bed and stalked past him. Shiro said nothing as he followed him out of the house and took lead to look for the other kids.

Shiro sighed as he knocked on another door. This was the third one they had attempted trying to look for those kids. The first house had a grouchy man telling them to get off his lawn while the second was an old cat lady who suggested they check this house. She said something about a young boy living here. After he knocked, Shiro was begging and pleading for a six year old to answer the door.

When the door finally opened, he was surprised to see a boy about his age, though it was hard to tell since he was around three inches taller than him. The boy had unruly, chestnut colored hair that stuck out at all ends. He had a pencil sticking out of it. He wore big, round glasses that covered almost half of his face. The boy was holding a toddler, who was trying to pull them off.

“Um hi. Katie, no!” The boy said while he struggled to get the toddler to release his glasses. After a second, he was able to get her to let go. He rubbed the glasses on his shirt to wipe off the smudges. “Sorry about that. Um, can I help you?”

“Oh, uh…” Shiro felt his brain short circuit while he stared into the boy’s eyes.

His eyes looked like salted caramel. It was one of Shiro’s favorite treats. This boy’s eyes were just like it, but less delicious and prettier. Though, Shiro didn’t want to eat his eyes. That would have been weird. Shiro mentally slapped himself, trying to get his internal monologue to shut up. Still, his eyes were really pretty.  

“He doesn’t look familiar.” Keith spoke up and looked at Shiro impatiently. He didn’t understand his brother’s odd behavior.

“Keith, don’t be rude.” Shiro gave him a stern look.  

“You were being rude first by knocking on a stranger’s door and just standing there staring at them.” Keith retorted, crossing his arms.

Shiro felt his blush spread to his neck and ears. “We wouldn’t have to knock on doors like this if you remembered where your friends live!”

“It’s okay, Matt never remembers anything.” The toddler, Shiro remembered the boy had called Katie, suddenly spoke up. The three boys just stared at her stunned.

"That is the first real sentence you've said WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU BEEN HIDING YOU LITTLE PIGEON." Matt asked her, rather distressed while Katie just grinned.

Shiro couldn’t stop himself from laughing and even Keith couldn’t keep himself from smiling at the two siblings. Katie’s grin got wider while Matt looked away, pouting as he readjusted his glasses.

“Sorry, sorry. I’m not laughing at you, just surprised. Your little sister is pretty smart.” Shiro said, trying to calm down. “I’m Takashi. This is my brother Keith.”

“I’m Matt and this is Katie…and you already kind of knew that.” Matt laughed a little before clearing his throat. “So, you’re looking for someone?”

“Just looking for my brother’s friends.” Shiro replied before giving Matt their names.

“They’re not my friends anymore.” Keith muttered stubbornly under his breath.

“Keith.” Shiro said sternly, not breaking eye contact with Matt.  

“Oh, I think one of them lives in the last house on this block. I think I might have seen him and the other two run by a few minutes ago.” Matt replied thoughtfully as he tapped his chin, “I think they were screaming about a crazy kid with a knife?”

“Kids, they have wild imaginations don’t they.” Shiro laughed nervously.

“Well, you’re still a kid too.” Matt chuckled and Shiro’s ears went red.

Shiro bowed quickly, hoping Matt hadn’t noticed. “Thank you so much and sorry to bother you. Let’s go Keith.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Keith grumbled as he followed Shiro down the driveway.  

“Bye!” Katie yelled at them and Matt smiled as he waved goodbye.

“It was nice to meet you two!” He called out, Shiro looked back and waved with a smile.

Shiro and Keith were halfway down the block when Keith couldn't take it anymore and asked. "Do you like that boy?"

"What?!” Shiro shouted, flustered. “I don't even know him!"

“You could barely talk to him and you told him your name was Takashi.” Keith pointed out while he kicked a pebble on the ground. “No one calls you that anymore. Not even mom or dad. Except when you get in trouble.”

“I guess?” Shiro shrugged. Now that he thought about it, he’d rarely been called Takashi ever since Keith started calling him Shiro when they first met. It became a nickname that stuck for years.

“So why’d you tell him your first name?” Keith asked again. Shiro didn’t answer; he actually wasn’t quite sure. Keith just stared at him. “…Do you like boys too?”

Shiro wasn’t sure what to say before he spotted three kids nearby. They were playing soccer in front of the house Matt mentioned. The ball suddenly came flying in their direction and bounced before rolling towards Shiro. He stopped the ball with his foot and one kid came running to get the ball back before he noticed Keith and started screaming. The two other kids also screamed the moment they spotted Keith. They looked ready to bolt inside the house but by some miracle Shiro managed to call them back before they could run off.

“Hey, Keith has something to say.” Shiro said once he managed to calm the kids down.  

Keith glared at the ground while the three kids watched him warily.

“Go on.” Shiro nudged his shoulder.

“…Sorry.” Keith said through his teeth as he shrugged off Shiro’s hand.

“For?” Shiro replied, arms crossed.

Keith shot Shiro another death glare before turning back to face the other kids, “For scaring you with a knife.”

The three kids look at each other nervously. Shiro couldn’t blame them with the murderous look on Keith’s face. “Now, before you guys say anything you have to apologize to Keith for what you said to him.”

Everyone including Keith looked at Shiro in complete shock. The kids looked at one another, uncertain and Shiro crossed his arms.

“Apologize. There’s nothing wrong with liking a boy.” Shiro went on, before looking down at Keith. “You’re right, I like boys too.”

Keith’s jaw dropped while the other kids looked at one another and began to mutter among themselves before one finally spoke up. “Can you really like another boy?”

“Yes. You can like whoever you want. Don’t let anyone else tell you different or that you’re not normal.” Shiro replied without hesitating before he looked back at Keith, “Never let them hurt you, alright?”

…

Allura leaned against the wall beside her cell door and tapped her finger to the beat of the sentries marching outside. She would not allow Zarkon to get his hands on any of them, not again. To say she was angry was an understatement but she tried to keep her mind clear. She needed to focus if this was going to work. Allura had given it some thought and felt confident she had a decent plan how to get them out of there.

The last time she had been captured she didn’t have the advantage of a few small friends. Once it appeared no one would return to take her from the cell, the space mice peeked out of their hiding spot from her pockets.

That’s when they all got to work. The yellow and grey space mice, Pidge had come to affectionately call Gus and Jaq, started to bite through her restraints. While Perla and Suzy, the blue and pink mice, were busy tugging off a small drain cover on the floor. The Paladins had mentioned the names came from an earth story. Allura couldn’t understand why Lance wouldn’t stop calling her “Cinderelli” for a week.

The thought of Lance sent a twinge of pain through her heart. He may have been a nuisance to deal with at times but Allura hoped he was alright.  

Once free, Allura sent the mice down the pipe in hopes they could make their way through the ship’s systems, perhaps even the vents without being spotted. Unfortunately, the pipe was a tad too small for Gus to fit through despite the tugging and pushing.

With a weak smile, Allura leaned down and freed the yellow space mouse. “Looks like you three will have to head out on your own to find our friends. Good luck.”

The three nodded before disappearing down the drain; Gus grumbled softly before Allura set him on her shoulder. “Don’t worry. Your time to help will come I’m sure.”

Gus huffed softly before Allura moved back to the door to listen. She waited, memorizing the pattern of the sentries and occasionally watched the space mice’s progress through their eyes. So far so good. The plan was a long shot but with their help, she doubted it would take too much to find Shiro and Coran and track down the Lions.

Keith was another issue entirely. Allura was sure the mice would be able to locate him. The problem was what state they would find him and how to get him free. They needed him to operate the Red Lion for them to be able to escape. However, with his current state of mind so fragile, she feared Haggar would only turn him against them once more.

Anger flared through Allura as memories of the Druid returned to her. She had no idea what the Witch had done to turn Keith’s mind against them or how it was connected to his true lineage. It just didn’t make sense how Haggar had been able to figure out Keith was Galran long before any of the members of Team Voltron knew.

Despite that, Allura was determined to do what she could to help Keith. He was not their enemy. His actions were not his own when he had hurt Lance. Those actions belonged to Haggar, the one who had harmed Shiro during his imprisonment, and the one who creates monsters of nightmares from the minds of Zarkon’s prisoners.

Allura shuddered at the thought of being reduced to a mindless war machine. She reminded herself that fate could very well happen to any of them if they didn’t get out of there.  

Gus looked up at her with curious eyes, sensing something was troubling her. He gave her cheek a light nudge with his nose.

“I’m fine…” Allura whispered and offered him a weak smile.

Gus tilted his head and seemed to know better. Though he accepted her answer before curling up on her shoulder.

Allura closed her eyes and tried to sense for the Lions. The Red and Black Lions were thankfully aboard this ship. She felt a faint tug at the edge of her mind. It was faint but she could still sense the other Lions. They felt so far away and she only hoped that meant they had gotten to safety with their Paladins and that they were still alive.

Allura had hoped she had made the right decision when she sent them to earth despite the distance. The thought had been troubling her since they had been separated. She could have very well sent them an ally planet.

In the past few months, Team Voltron had become known across the Galra Empire. First, as a myth come back to life and now a threat to Zarkon but also hope that there is a way to break free from his rule. They had even gained their fair share of allies. Not all of them were quite warriors but resistance groups were rising all over.

They had people they could trust but these groups were stretched thin and far. More importantly, none would have been able to care for Lance’s injuries. Humans were after all practically unheard of across the universe. There was very little information about their anatomy.

Antibiotics and medicines across the known universe could very well kill humans. Normally when the Paladins had been injured they would just be healed with a healing pod. That was no longer an option anymore. Allura had no idea what happened to the Castle of Lions. It could not help them now.  

The only logical place left to treat Lance’s wounds was Earth, and with the distance it would take time for the Galra to be able to locate them. Allura could only hope she made the right decision; only time would tell if it had been the right one.

Jaq and Suzy called to Allura and she could see Shiro and Coran in their cells. “Good work you two. Have you made any progress in locating the Lions and Keith?”

Allura sensed sadness through their bond and understood. “Alright, keep trying. Thank you.”

She considered Shiro and Coran’s location. They weren’t as far as she thought they were but it was still going to take time to get to them. She weighed her options whether she should move out or not. Time was of the essence. She had no way to tell how close they were to the main Galra fleet.

Tapping her finger lightly against the wall, Allura timed the next sentry.

“Ready to help?” Allura asked Gus softly and he gave her a firm nod. “Good. Get ready.”

The moment the sentry passed by the door Gus leaped for its head. The sentry jerked back, startled as it reeled back and forth in an attempt to get him off. Gus kept out of reach and bit into some of the wiring in its neck before the robot backed up against the cell door. Before the sentry knew what hit it, Allura reached through the small window, digging her fingers in its head. She heard the crunch of metal as it slumped to the ground.

With effort and a lot of luck, Allura and Gus adjusted its limp arm to open the cell door. She sighed in relief the moment the door slide open. She didn’t have much time before the next sentry made its rounds.

“Thank you, Gus. See? You did help me.” Allura said with a smile and Gus beamed at her proudly.

Wasting no time, Allura grabbed the sentry’s shoulders to drag it into the cell. Then she shut the cell door behind her and picked up Gus before bolting down the hall and rounding a corner. Moments later another sentry appeared at the end of the hall and passed her cell. Allura had to thank Shiro when this was over. His strategy kept her out of sight of the sentries at least. She had a few close calls with a few Galra soldiers. A few more halls and she would find them. Just a few more.

_…_

Shiro leaned against his cell wall, eyes closed. It didn’t feel like he had been asleep for very long before a commotion outside startled him wake. He looked to the cell door, still a bit dazed as he fought back the sleep. The commotion only got louder before everything came to a dead stop. He stood up slowly, raising an eyebrow before the door slide open revealing a Galra soldier.

“Let’s go.” She said.  

Shiro squinted at her for a moment. “…Allura?”

“Yes, we’re getting out of here.” She said, moving forward to break off his cuffs before heading back out the door.

“No argument there.” Shiro replied as he followed her to Coran’s cell.

“Shiro?” Coran called out. “What was that noise? Are we escaping?”

“We are now.” Shiro replied as the door to the cell slid open and Coran jumped back a bit at the sight of the Galra soldier.

“Are you alright, Coran?” Allura asked before Shiro moved out to keep watch.

“Allura!” Coran gasped before pulling her into a hug and she couldn’t help but hug him back. Though, it was a little awkward since she was taller in her current Galra form; Coran’s head barely reached her chestplate even on his tip toes.

“It’s good to see you. Now hurry, put this on.” Allura replied, pulling away from the hug as she tossed him one of the unconscious guards. Coran stumbled a bit to catch the guard and winced as pain shot through his side.

“Coran?” Allura looked at him concerned. “Are you alright?”

“Don’t worry about me, just a little banged up from the crash.” Coran tried to assure her. Everything had happened so fast he hardly even noticed his injury before. Now that things had slowed down it was becoming more of a nuisance and his head couldn’t stop spinning. He definitely had a concussion from the impact. “Nothing some medical gel can’t fix.”

 _“Nothing some medical gel can’t fix”_ Coran could hear himself say again, only weaker and more pained and he tensed as his vision shifted. Lights were flickering all around him, the air was thick with soot, practically covering him from head to toe. He was vaguely aware he was being dragged by someone through a hall.

“Coran, don’t be stubborn and let me check your wound.” Someone said beside him and the dragging stopped as he was set down on the ground. Coran was baffled the moment he came face to face with a man in Paladin armor. It was hard to tell the color from the soot but he’d recognize that voice anywhere.

“Alfor…” Coran breathed out as the man pulled off his helmet.

A youthful Alfor smiled at him gently; a long braid tumbled out of the helmet and rested on his shoulder. “Just take it easy, Coran. I think we’re in the clear for the moment.”

Coran said nothing as Alfor set aside his helmet before kneeling down to inspect Coran’s head. Coran had a faint feeling he was supposed to be wearing a helmet but from the injury to his head he could only assume it was in pieces somewhere. It was hard to recall where this memory had come from but what had stunned him the most was seeing Alfor again.

Coran couldn’t stop staring at him. Alfor was much more youthful in his paladin armor. It was hard to tell with all the soot but Coran vividly remembered the bright yellow. He was reminded of it every time he saw Hunk wearing the same armor.

It wasn’t just the armor that made Alfor seem more youthful, he _was_ youthful. His blue eyes brighter, smile gentle and easy to come by. It was a contrast from his last days, eyes dull and battle worn. A smile was hard to find and even if Coran would catch it, it seemed forced. It was a reminder how much things have changed.

Soot fell steadily all around them, covering their hair and getting into the crooks of their armor. Though, Alfor hardly seemed to notice as he worked calmly, inspecting a gash on Coran’s temple. Without a word, Alfor took out a tube of healing gel from his belt before applying the salve to Coran’s temple.

Coran closed his eyes, comforted by the gentle touch. He also wasn’t sure if he’d be able to look at Alfor anymore. It just hurt, seeing him like this again. It was like looking at a ghost, but this memory; the pain, Alfor’s gentle hand…It all felt so very real.

“Coran? Still with me?” Alfor asked softly, tilting Coran’s head back to get a better look at him.

Coran didn’t need to look at him to know there was a caring smile on his face.

“What ever will I do without you?” Alfor asked. Coran needed to open his eyes. He needed to see that smile one more time.

“I’m fine. Really, don’t worry about me…” Coran opened his eyes and he was face to face with Allura again.

“If you say so…” Allura replied, she made her way to the cell door. “We’ll make sure to get you some medical gel when we get back to the Lions then.”

“Allura? What about you? Are you alright?” Coran called out, trying to force back his disappointment before she could step out of the cell.

“I’m managing. I’m more worried about you. The crash was jarring but I wasn’t the one to hit my head on the console.” Allura offered him a sympathetic smile. “Just get dressed so we can get out of here and make sure you’re taken care of.”

Coran forced a smile as Allura stepped out before slumping against the wall to catch his breath. He needed to focus and stop dwelling on the past. Alfor was long gone. It was all in the past and nothing could be done to just go back to those times. He needed to stop thinking about it and move on.

Looking down at the unconscious guard, Coran altered his skin to match the same purple tone before matching his height. He winced, the stretching of his skin and bones normally didn’t cause any discomfort but the change aggravated his wounds.

Coran moved aside part of his coat to see a large purple bruise had formed on his side. Definitely some internal bleeding; he really did hope medical gel would be able to help with this. He felt a bit light headed but he fought through it. There would be time to rest when they got out of there.

He worked through the pain, slipping on the Galra armor. While he worked, he couldn’t help but think that ever since he parted ways with Alfor, he’s always felt responsible to protect Allura. For the longest time, Allura has always felt like family, as if she were his own. Funny how things change before you realize it, now Allura was worrying and caring for him. Coran had promised Alfor that no matter what he’d keep her safe, but he did not need to make a promise with him to do what he has to keep Allura safe.

Coran picked up the Galra helmet next but as he held it up his vision shifted again. The helmet’s appearance changed to a tattered and cracked Paladin helmet. Coran ran his fingers along his temple absently, touching a faint scar along his hairline. He looked back down at the damaged helmet and rubbed his thumb on the smooth surface revealing a scuffed green color. When he blinked again the helmet in his hands changed back to the grey and purple Galra helmet.  

Coran just sighed deeply and slipped it over his head before he stepped out of the cell towards Shiro and Allura. The two were talking about a potential escape plan before a small ventilation panel snapped open above them.

Suzy, the pink space mouse hopped down from it and landed on Allura’s helmet before she bounced down to her shoulder. She chirped to Allura and she nodded. “She’s found the Lions. They’re in a cargo hanger a few levels above us.”

“Finally some good news!” Coran said, keeping his composure as he walked up to Allura and Shiro. He kept his hands busy as he made a few adjustments to his Galra armor.

“What about Keith?” Shiro asked, looking to Allura hopefully.

“Working on it. The mice haven’t found him yet.” Allura replied grimly as she glanced at Shiro. “We should get moving. We can come back for Keith.”

Shiro said nothing for a moment, and glanced back in the direction he assumed they took Keith. He gritted his teeth and felt like he was being torn in half before turning to face Allura.

“Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woooo done! Sorry it took so long to update! I actually had 11K ready for this chapter but I decided to cut it in half to expand on a few things on the second half so hopefully that part will be done soon maybe in a few days if I focus! 
> 
> I’ve had this chapter sitting in my laptop half done since July or August and I had no idea what’s been keeping me from posting, well its partly good that I took this long, I added a few (okay maybe a lot) of new ideas I didn’t have before like how Shiro first met Matt, it seems I’m going to keep lowkey bringing back Matt into every chapter until he finally shows up
> 
> Special thanks to Acquisitor for the true story of the knife incident that actually happened to her gay Aunt I kid you not and again special thanks to the Shatt Chat like my betas satans_handbag and kawaiirun for all the ideas and support and Acequistor and Sebelratia for some the of the Shatt ideas!


	6. Let You Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro, Allura and Coran have located the Lions and must now figure out a plan to go back for Keith, but is Keith strong enough to break free from Haggar's control? There is also something that Coran has been keeping from Shiro and the others about the previous Paladins. Something that will finally be brought to light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks satans_handbag for betaing!! And sorry everyone for talking so long to update this semester has gotten really busy and technically I've been using time to work on this chapter rather than the work I need to get done 
> 
> WELL IT WAS WORTH IT please enjoy this extra long 10K chapter

Shiro was easily able to get the three of them to avoid the sentries. Their patterns hadn’t changed but they were still in a grim situation. The further they went, the more they all realized there was little chance they could get back to Keith without being spotted. Despite the odds, Shiro was not willing to accept that. He was going to get Keith out of here one way or another.  Once they reached the cargo hangar Shiro counted about six sentries standing guard in front of the two lions. He perked when he noticed the Red Lion’s shields were down and she was being held up by large metal clamps. She weakly growled at each passing sentry while large hoses filled with a strange glowing substance were connected to her. She seemed to be growing weaker with each passing moment but refused to give in.

The three quickly moved in, catching the squadron off guard when it seemed they were being fired on by their own. Coran used a blaster he’d pick up from the guard, he had to steady his aim but for the most part hit his mark. The ache in his wound had gotten worse from running around the ship but he would not let that get in the way of their escape. Allura moved in to fight hand to hand to pick off sentries Coran hadn’t taken down, easily snapping their heads off. Shiro went around them took care of the stragglers with his Galra hand, burning through metal and circuitry.  

Coran took a deep breath once it was over. His head throbbed and his side ached badly, but there was no time to rest. Not with the odds they had. Right now they needed to make sure the room was safe to so they wouldn’t be discovered. Coran quickly made his way to a security panel and worked on jamming and altering the video feed in the hangar. Meanwhile, Allura and Shiro disposed of the sentries down a garbage shoot.

“Shiro, go get some medical gel from the Black Lion. Coran’s hurt from the crash.” Allura asked.

“You don’t look so good yourself.” Shiro noticed.

“Same goes for you.” Allura replied as Shiro turned to head towards the Black Lion. They could all use a patch up after what they’ve endured.

Coran had just finished at the security console when Allura approached him. He groaned a bit as he pulled off his helmet and set it down on the console. To his relief, the grey helmet hadn’t changed. No bright paladin helmet, just the dull Galra helmet. For the moment, it meant there were no more tricks made by his mind. He wasn’t quite sure how many more he could handle seeing.

“How are you holding up?” Allura asked.

“In all honestly, I’ve realized purple is not my color.” Coran replied with a small smile. A few strands of hair fell over his eyes and he ran his hand back to brush it out of his face. “It doesn’t go well with my hair.”

Allura chuckled softly while she took off her helmet. Allura blended in more naturally with her white hair against her purple skin but if any Galra were to see Coran they’d spot him and know he was out of place in a heartbeat. As far as Coran was aware, no Galra had brilliant orange hair like his.

Allura glanced over at the Red Lion and frowned. It was hard to sense her even from this close. Whatever was being pumped into her from the hoses couldn’t have been good. “Let’s see if we can get those removed…”

Coran nodded as Allura walked over to the control panel. He gaze up the Red Lion when his head started to throb. His vision faltered when an Altean woman suddenly appeared beside the Lion.

The woman’s back was turned to him, her focus was entirely on her Lion. She wore Red Paladin armor and carried a sniper rifle on her shoulder. He could make out her short jet black hair and cream color skin. The woman rested a hand against her Lion before turning to face Coran.

_ “You don’t look so good, Coranic.” _ She hummed, dark purple eyes watching him thoughtfully. A light smile curled on her freckled face.  _ “What’s Alfor going to think if you run yourself ragged?” _

“Sol…?” Coran barely said above a whisper before he hastily rubbed his eyes.

It had to be another trick his mind was playing. When he looked back she was gone. Coran couldn’t decide if that was a relief or disappointment before the throbbing in his head worsened. He groaned softly and pressed a hand against his temple.

“Coran?” Allura asked, looking over at him, “Are you alright?”

“Could be better.” Coran chuckled softly with a pained smile on his face. He kept his head down, hoping Allura wouldn’t notice something was wrong. Though, Coran was also partly afraid of what he might see if he looked up again. He was still unsettled from seeing Alfor before. He wasn’t sure if he could handle seeing another ghost from the past like that again. “Would feel a lot better once we’re all safe and out of here.”

“The feeling is mutual.” Allura smiled at him weakly before returning her attention back to the controls to try to figure out how to free the Red Lion.

A few ticks later, Shiro was back at their side with a medical kit to treat any wounds. Coran felt like he could finally breathe once the throbbing in his head finally managed to stop. Maybe now he would stop hallucinating. He could only hope that was the case.

Once they were ready they regrouped back in front of the Black and Red Lions.

“We need to remove those hoses.” Shiro said as he studied the equipment on the Red Lion. Whatever was in those hoses couldn’t be good.

“Working on it.” Allura replied before she scanned the room for some sort of control panel. She perked when she spotted one nearby and began to study the Galra text on the screen. Her Galran was rusty but she had high hopes this was the right panel. “The substance inside is keeping her dormant. They were unable to control her after they captured Keith.”

“What is this stuff?” Shiro asked as he pointed to the liquid running through the lines. He perked when he heard clamps in the hoses snap shut and the hoses snapped off. 

“The energy feels the same as the kind Zarkon had used to affect the Black Lion and separate Voltron.” Allura replied. “It’s similar to quintessence but corrupted…dangerous…”

“So they were basically trying to muzzle her control her.” Shiro replied and clenched his first. 

“Yes but it doesn’t explain how the Red Lion was affected before. They didn’t have a direct link to her.” Coran brought up as he knelt down by one of the hoses and began to study the purple substance dripping from it.  He dipped a finger in experimentally, it didn't seem to have any reaction and he wasn't too keen on touching it without his gloves.  “It very well could have been done through her bond with Keith.”

“There are really no other explanations…” Allura agreed before she turned to Shiro. “I may have underestimated how close your bonds are with your Lions. First the Blue and Red Lions act on their own to protect their Paladins and then there’s this…”

“Your bonds may even be more powerful than the connections with the previous Paladins before you.” Coran noted, prideful, as he shook off the purple substance from his gloves. Despite the circumstances, it was a wonder to see how quickly the new paladins were coming into their roles.

“That’s something to find out another day…” Shiro replied as he looked up at the Red Lion as Allura directed the clamps to slowly lower her to the ground.

“Hopefully sooner rather than later. I hate the thought of leaving Lance, Pidge and Hunk on their own. We may not have had many options before sending them off like we did, but now it’s for the best that Voltron and the Paladins reunite as soon as possible.” Coran replied.

“Agreed.” Shiro and Allura said as the Red Lion was freed from her restraints.

The Red Lion let out a weak growl but she did not stand or activate her shields, surprising the three.

“What’s wrong with her?” Shiro asked, looking to Allura and Coran for any answers.

“Let me see what I can find out.” Allura replied as she glanced at the hoses before she placed a hand on the Red Lion and closed her eyes.

Allura’s hand began to glow and reminded Shiro of when she had transferred energy to the Balmera. Their ability to manipulate quintessence and to be able to read it still amazed Shiro. It seemed like Alteans weren’t the only with this ability since the Balmerans could do the same. It made him wondered if the gift only be done by specific species and if humans shared the gift.

“She’s…anguished over what she and Keith had done to Lance.” Allura spoke up and her eyes remained closed. “They were both scared and confused by what they had done…and the lack of control they had over their minds…” Suddenly a memory flashed across Allura’s mind and she gasped.

“What is it?” Shiro perked.

“The Red Lion ejected Keith once they had returned to the planet’s surface. Keith had been able to break free from the control and had returned to his senses.” Allura explained which surprised them. “She may have rejected him in an attempt to protect the two of them…To stop the corruption from spreading further…”

“Allura, can you help her?” Shiro replied as he turned to face the Black Lion to take down the shield. He glanced back at the two Alteans and the Red Lion.

“I might be able to flush it out of her system but it’ll take some time…” Allura replied before an image of a lab appeared in her mind. “And we’re going to have to be fast. I know where Keith is.”

“Tell me where he is. I’m going back for him.” Shiro replied and placed a hand on his lion. “Black, if I don’t come back in time you need to leave with Allura, Coran and Red, no exceptions.”

“Shiro, you can’t be serious!” Allura gave him a look. “You can’t go by yourself!”

“I am serious. They don’t know we’ve escaped yet. Right now we have the element of surprise.” Shiro replied, he even sensed the Black Lion’s disdain for the plan but also seemed to know what was at stake even if she didn’t like it. “Allura, since your life force is connected to the Lions you’ll be able to pilot Black just fine right?”

Allura was silent; like she was unsure.

“You share a connection with them, Allura. That has to count for something.” Shiro sighed, running his hand through his hair. “It’s not like we have any other paladins here, do we?”

“No one is compatible to the Black Lion except for you and Allura.” Coran spoke up for the first time as he glanced at her. “In theory, it’s possible for you to pull it off.”

“We already tried once and look where it’s gotten us.” Allura replied bitterly and Shiro realized he may have stumbled onto a sensitive topic. He wondered what Allura could have possibility been referring to but they were pressed for time. Explanations would have to come later.

“Neither of you or Black have the luxury to be picky. I don’t like this as much as you guys but you need to trust me.” Shiro looked up at the Black Lion and then back to the two Alteans. The Black Lion let out a low growl; though neither Coran nor Allura could tell if it was disapproval or annoyance. “This is just a precaution. We don’t have that many options if the plan goes south. The Lions are our top priority.”

Another growl echoed through the room; this time it was definitely out of disapproval. Shiro couldn’t help but smile at the Black Lion grimly, “Paladins can be replaced, Black. You and the other Lions can’t.”

“Shiro, you and Keith are not expendable.” Coran argued as he stood up to face the younger Paladin.

“You told us yourself that Paladins come and go throughout time.” Shiro replied as he rested a hand on the Black Lion. “Besides, I intend on doing everything I can to get us all out of here but…”

“Shiro?” Allura asked, stepping towards him to rest a hand on his shoulder.

Shiro took a deep breath before turning to face her, “Allura, if I don't make it back I want you to lead Voltron.”

“Alright.” Allura replied without hesitation, noticing the brief look of relief in Shiro’s eyes. “But Shiro, you can’t go off on your own.”

“You’re not going alone.” Coran cut off Shiro before he had time to speak. “I’m going with you,”

“Coran.” Shiro sighed deeply. “You’re still hurt from the crash and I’ll be able to move faster on my own.”

“I’m fine, Shiro.” Coran brushed him off before he crossed his arms. He was honestly feeling much better from the medical gel. “But do tell me, what will you do if Keith is injured or unconscious and won’t be able to move on his own?”

Shiro wanted to argue, but they didn’t have the time and he knew Coran was right. Shiro looked to Allura and her face was bleak. “This is our only option, Shiro but you two need to be careful when you get Keith. We do not know his current state of mind. He could very well be mirroring the Red Lion’s condition.”

“Alright. Do you think she’ll be able to move once you fix her?” Shiro asked as he glanced over at the Red Lion.

“Perhaps but she might also be too weak from the ordeal. Though, if worse comes to worse, the Black Lion should be able to carry her out.” Allura replied, given that the Black Lion was the largest of the Voltron lions, it shouldn’t be a problem.

He nodded and turned his attention to the Black Lion. There was a soft rumble through their bond as she offered reassurance. Shiro sighed softly and patted her snout gently before he turned back to Allura. “Keep each other safe. If I make the call you two get out of there with or without us.”

“Understood. Just make it back in time.” Allura replied and Coran rested a hand on her shoulder.

“We’ll see each other again, Allura.” Coran said softly as he pulled her into an embrace.

“I know.” Allura replied before she pulled away.

At their feet, the space mice seemed to be making their own goodbyes. Jaq would show Shiro and Coran the way while Gus and Suzy climbed up to Allura’s shoulders. She watched as Shiro and Coran headed out without looking back before she made her way to the hoses control panel.

She tinkered with a few things and the hoses reattached, though this time it would filter out the corrupted quintessence. This was going to be hard on the Red Lion’s systems and could leave her too weak to function but it was the only way to rid her of the corruption. She set the control panel to disengage the hoses once the process was complete.

It would take time but hopefully by then Shiro and Coran would be back with Keith. With that, Allura made her way into the Black Lion to wait. She took a deep breath as she made herself to the pilot’s chair and sat down.

Gus and Suzy hopped off her shoulders and stood up on the controls. They tried to make silly faces, anything, to get her to feel better. She could only smile weakly before she glanced at the Black Lion’s monitors to look at the Red Lion.

The Black Lion let out a low rumble, as if trying to reach out to her to offer her comfort through the pain. Though, there was little else she could so and the Red Lion didn’t seem to respond to her.

“She’ll be alright. I hope…” Allura said softly and bite her lip. She hoped she had fixed whatever has caused the Red Lion to attack one of her own. The Red Lion had attacked the Blue Lion with and without Keith at the controls. There was no way to tell if that could happen again. It unsettled her but despite the risk she would not leave her behind. 

Allura shook her head and began to look up on the Black Lion’s star map to see where they were. Regardless, if the plan worked or not, she was going to need an escape route and some idea to get to earth. Meaning they would need to get back to the Castleship. If anything could be salvaged from the wreck maybe the wormhole generator could. It was the only way to be able to get to earth; that or risk getting there the long way. Allura was not fond of the idea of leading the Galra straight to earth.

While she went over all the possible outcomes of the plan to get back, Allura couldn’t help but remember that ever since she was a child she’d always dreamed of being a Paladin of Voltron. If things went wrong with the plan to free Keith she might just get her chance. This was not at all how she envisioned things to turn out.

“Not like this…”

…

Keith twitched and his eyes moved rapidly under his eyelids. Perla crawled over quietly to Keith, making sure no one was around as she hopped onto the table. She noticed a few tubes connected to Keith’s arm and some sort of contraption that pumped an odd glowing purple substance into his veins. She scurried up his armor before sitting at the collar and tried to nudge Keith awake.

“Shiro…” Keith muttered weakly but his eyes did not open. “Where…”

Suddenly, Keith was running through the halls of the Garrison in a panic. All he could hear was the news broadcast of the Kerberos mission echoing in his head over and over again.

_ Mission failure. _

_ Lost in space. _

_ Pilot error. _

They never said Shiro or pilot at the same time but Keith knew what they were doing; they were blaming Shiro. He wasn’t going to stand for this. Keith didn’t even bother to knock as he barged into Commander Iverson’s office. His sudden entrance startled Iverson and a professor that Keith couldn’t recall his name. He didn’t care; he just wanted answers.

“Where’s my brother?! What happened?!” Keith shouted without thinking and was met with a puzzled look from the professor and a look of annoyance from Iverson.  

“Stand down, Cadet! What is your name?” Iverson demanded. 

“I’m Keith Kogane Shirogane. My brother Takashi Shirogane was on the Kerberos mission.” Keith explained, he saw a twinge of pity in the professor’s eyes while Iverson’s demeanor remained cool. “Are you going to answer my questions or not?”

Again he started to hear the same things over and over again like a cracked record. Pilot error. Lost communication. Dead in space. It was just like the news reports and each word they said made Keith angrier and angrier until he finally snapped.  

“That’s impossible! Shiro’s the best pilot in the entire Garrison! Better than any of the other professors! This couldn’t have been his fault! Something happened up there!” Keith spat as he marched up to Iverson.

“If you don’t calm down I will be forced to take disciplinary action. Stand. Down.” Iverson glared at him.

Keith hesitated, briefly considering what Shiro would have thought if he got kicked out of the Garrison. He would have been disappointed more than angry if he did something rash because of him. Still, Keith  _ couldn’t _ calm down. His anger had been rising the moment he had heard what happened. Since the moment he heard they were trying to put this all on Shiro.

Keith glared and Iverson returned the look, recognizing the challenge, “Do you want to throw anyway all you’ve worked for here, Cadet Kogane?”

“You think I  _ care _ about any of that? I want my brother back.” Keith gritted through his teeth as his vision blurred a bit at the edges.

“Shirogane is gone. He is  _ never _ coming back. You’re just going to have to accept—”

Keith didn’t even wait for him to finish his sentence before his fist seemed to move on it’s own. He felt a crunch against his knuckles as his fist collided with Iverson’s nose. For a brief moment, Keith felt a dull satisfaction but the small victory was short lived when he realized he mistake he made.

Panic surged through Keith and he bolted through the door before Iverson even had a chance to recover.

He was still 17 and he was currently a ward of the Garrison until they expelled him for assaulting a commanding officer. With Shiro gone he would be put back into the system. No, he couldn’t go back. He refused to go back.

Keith ignored the bewildered looks and cries of protest he got as he shoved past other cadets. Several even jumped out of his way as he barreled past, desperate to find an exit.

He finally saw the green exit side and he toss off his Garrison jacket. He’d be harder to spot without it once he got outside. A yelp behind him caught his attention. He wasn’t sure what possessed him to turn about but he did and noticed his jacket had hit a bigger cadet in the face.

“Hey! What’s your problem?!” A lankier cadet trying to help his friend snapped at Keith before he stepped back from the wild look on Keith’s face before recognition hit. “Wait…Keith? Hey, you okay?”

Shouting came from the end of the hall. Keith tenses when he spotted the Garrison faculty heading towards them. He took off running without giving the two cadets a second glance and blew past the doors.

Hours later, Keith lied on the roof of his and Shiro’s small shack, staring up at the night sky. By some miracle he’d gotten back here without being spotted by the Garrison or social services. It felt like an eternity before he managed to get his way back here.

Neither he nor Shiro had been here in months; he doubted if someone hadn’t come here by now no one would look for him here.

In a way it felt good to be home but Keith just stared at the stars blankly. Somewhere out there, Shiro was floating out there and here he was all alone again.

Keith bit his lip, tears forming in his eyes but this time he didn’t force them back. He clenched his fist but flinched when he aggravated the cuts on his hand. He looked down at the hastily applied bandages wrapped around his hand. He faintly remembered breaking a lot of things after he got home. He regretted it now since everything he destroyed had once belonged to him and Shiro but he wasn’t able to get himself to stop. At least, not until he exhausted himself and crawled up to the roof after night fell.

He had been angry, scared, confused but now he just felt numb again. He just couldn’t accept what happened. Shiro couldn’t be gone and he just hoped this turned out to be a nightmare.

_ “Shirogane is gone. He is never coming back” _

Closing his eyes, Keith decided he wasn’t going back. He couldn’t trust the Galaxy Garrison anymore; not with how they threw Shiro under the bus like that. He was also going to have to stay out of sight, at least until he was 18.

It wasn’t hard with the shack so secluded. No one came out here. He’d be safe here. Just one year. He’d only need to go into town a few times a month for supplies. He could do this. Right? He knew how to take care of himself. He’d always been best on his own but the problem was he didn’t want to be alone.

_ “Hey! What’s your problem?!” _

The memory of that lanky cadet came back to him. Dark brown hair and warm brown skin. The usual cocky grin but this time it wasn’t there. He was angry at him. For throwing his jacket at his friend. Then he saw his face. 

_ “Wait… Keith? Hey, you okay?” _

Blue eyes, first infuriated but now filled with concern. Probably because he looked like a cornered animal to him. Though, he recognized him now. Was he okay? No…He wasn’t. Far from it actually. But…Who was he…?

_ “This isn’t your fault.” _

Keith recoiled as he sat up and gasped out, gripping his head. “Lance…”

Lance stood in front of him on that rooftop. He was dressed in full armor and said nothing; only stared as blood dripped from a tear on his shoulder.

“Stop it!” Keith growled and stood up, shoving Lance but he barely stumbled back. He tensed when he saw the purple splotches on his hand and he started to shake. “Just stop…”

Lance only gave him a pained smile. That smile was just as bad as him saying those words.

“Tell me it’s my fault! Go on!” Keith snapped, taking a step closer to Lance has his tattered uniform morphed into his paladin armor. “This is all my fault…

Keith lowered his head and he started to shake harder as the purple splotches started to spread.

He deserved this torment he supposed. All the damage he did, all the people he hurt, it only made sense really. Shiro was captured again by the monsters who tormented him for months. With Voltron divided like this he destroyed Allura and Coran’s only chance to get justice for their people who all died at Zarkon’s hands. Now there was no way for them to protect the universe, not with Black and Red captured.  

All the suffering they’ve been through means nothing now and it’s all because of him. 

“It’s not your fault.” Lance said again.

“Shut up…” Keith barely spoke above a whisper and refused to look at him.

Lance…he had family and because of him he snatched him away from them. He always loved how Lance talked about his family even though he went on and on about them for hours without getting winded.

Deep down Keith really wanted something like that too. A warm loving, crazy family. He had something like that once with Shiro’s family but that was a long time ago. He’s been alone for so long he just wanted a family. In a way, he had that again with the team but now those times had come and gone.

How could Keith face them again after what he did?

Lance embraced him without warning, almost as if he could have sensed his thoughts. Keith tensed and instinctively wanted to push him away but couldn’t bring himself to move. It took Keith a moment to realize how much taller he was in his Galra form than Lance. He knew the real Lance would have thrown a fit but this one remained silent as Keith returned the embrace.

“You promised me a rematch you...when we got out of there you said it would be a date…you idiot.” Keith muttered as he buried his head in Lance’s neck and embraced him as if he was the only thing keeping him together.

Lance was such an idiot, being so open, so trusting, even up to the moment he betrayed him. Why? Why was he like this? Why was he so trusting? Lance felt so cold in his arms. So much blood stained their armor and pooled on roof.

“Keith…” He whispered softly in his ear and Keith tensed how weak he sounded before his voice suddenly turned harsh. _ “You killed me.” _

An explosion went off behind Lance. Keith watched in horror as Lance’s helmet shattered and the flames engulfed the two of them. Keith screamed, his blood felt like it was on fire as he was pulled into darkness.

Keith wanted to hide, to escape from this pain but the only place he felt safe was with Red. It was no use, she was gone too. Keith could hardly sense her anymore and knew she wasn’t coming back. Not after what he made her do to Lance and Blue. He didn’t blame her.

Maybe if he hadn't gone up ahead, been separated from the others and found Haggar none of this wouldn't have ever happened; none of it. All of them would have been there to protect the castle and Shiro wouldn’t have been trapped trying to go back for Allura and Coran. Pidge and Hunk wouldn’t have had to have been separated from them who knows where in the universe and Lance…Lance and Blue would have been alive now.

“It’s all my fault…” Keith whispered softly as hot tears streamed down his cheek.

Beside the examination table, Haggar smirked down at Keith. He was starting to break. She could get to work now. Walking over to his head, she summoned a purple light in her hands and cast it across his head and eyes. She could sense his doubt leaving a path open for her to use. 

Keith gasped out in pain, his eyes flying open. He didn’t even bother to struggle or scream. The fire in his veins intensified, he felt like his bold was turning into lava. He felt so tired, he just wanted the pain to end. Suddenly, the pain and numbness disappeared; it left him feeling energized. It’s the first time in a long time he’s felt…alive. 

As the light began to fade a small smile curled on his lips.

…

For the most part, Jaq lead Shiro and Coran to the lab with little trouble. They’ve only had a few close calls with some sentries but they were able to make it past them without any issue. Now they were just around the corner of the lab. Shiro could see two sentries on guard by the door and already felt on edge. It was too easy. 

“So how do we get past them?” Coran whispered.

“I was supposed to be brought to a lab eventually by a guard…” Shiro brought up as he looked up at Coran’s armor.

“The last time I tried to impersonate a guard it didn’t turn out too well.” Coran cringed, he remembered the incident with Hunk on Balmera like it was yesterday.

“You don’t need to convince them; we just need to catch them off guard.” Shiro replied.

Shiro held his arms behind his back and tried his best to look like he was tied up while Coran walked behind him, carrying the Galra blaster pressed to Shiro’s back. He held his head high as they approached the two sentries.

“I’ve brought the prisoner, at Haggar’s request.” Coran announced.

One of the sentries tilted its head. “There was no request to transfer the prisoner.”

Without hesitating, Shiro stuck at one of the sentries. His metal arm breaking through to the circuitry and with a swift moment he yanked out the sensitive wires and it dropped to the ground. He turned around, prepared to strike the second sentry before watching it fall to the ground at Coran’s feet with several holes in his head and torso.

Shiro glanced over at the steaming blaster in Coran’s hands and nodded before kneeling down to pick up one of the blasters off the floor.

“Well…that worked better than last time.” Coran sighed in relief.

“Good work.” Shiro replied with a light smile.

Coran nodded as the two stood on either side of the door, ready for whatever they’d find inside. The door slid open and both had their blasters up and scanned the room. They were both surprised to see no one was inside, save for Keith lying on an examination table at the end of the room.

“You’d figure Haggar would be here.” Coran perked a bit as he dragged the offline sentries out of the hall and into the room.

“Keep your guard up.” Shiro said as he cautiously made his way to Keith as he glanced around, half expecting Haggar to just materialize out of the walls. “We need to move quickly before the next sentry makes its rounds.”

“Right.” Coran said as the door closed behind him and he dropped the sentries off to the side.

They approached Keith and the first thing Shiro noticed was that he was bigger, like Coran, but Keith still looked smaller than average Galra soldier. Not only that, but he looked more like a Galra. His face was a bit more angular and animal like. His dark hair was pushed back off his eyes and was now a shade of lavender. Looking at him like this made Shiro feel Keith’s transformation into a Galra was complete.

“Keith. Can you hear me?” Shiro called out to him as he stood beside the table. Perla sat beside Keith’s head and Jaq jumped up to sit beside her. The two space mice nudge at Keith.

Keith groaned softly and his head rolled to the side as he searched for him. He opened his eyes and squinted as if it were hard to see, even in the low light. “Shiro…?”

“I’m here, we’re here. Coran and I.” Shiro said calmly but he couldn’t stop himself from flinching when he saw his eyes. Piercing yellow eyes, staring at him from the shadows. Shiro took a breath and shook off the intrusive memory. He focused on cutting free one of the restraints around Keith’s wrist. “We’re going to get home alright?”

“Where…home…” Keith muttered, voice slurred. Jaq and Perla nudged at Keith but he just kept muttering. Shiro gave Coran a worried look.

Coran shook his head as he helped remove another restraint. “Haggar’s experiments must have Keith in a daze or perhaps it’s an anesthetic. We’ll have to look him over once we get to the Red Lion.”

“Right.” Shiro replied as he cut through the restraints on his ankles. He needed to stay focused, they need to get out of there fast.

The younger Paladin was still babbling incoherently under his breath when Coran glanced over at him. Suddenly, Keith’s appearance changed in Coran’s eyes. A young woman laid on the examination table in Keith’s place, the same woman who had stood in Allura’s place in the hanger earlier. Coran froze at the sight of her while she looked back at him.

_ “Stop staring at me like that you two. I’m fine.”  _ She groaned.

_ “Sol, stop being so stubborn. You need to rest.”  _ A familiar voice spoke up beside Coran. He glanced over and his eyes widen at the sight of a young half Galran man beside him in Blue Paladin armor. Another face he’d thought he’d never see again.   

_ “Oh don’t be so sentimental, Kozak or I’m really going to start to worry.” _ Sol muttered as she looked away from the Blue Paladin with a light blush on her cheeks.

Kozak make a face and looked away annoyed as he brushed back his bangs from his face. A light blush formed on his own cheeks, bringing out the color of his yellow Altean face markings.  _ “If you can argue with me like this now I’m sure you’ll make a full recovery.” _

Coran’s vision flickered back into focus and Keith reappeared on the examination table. Coran took a shaky breath and forced away his clouded thoughts. He didn’t understand why this was happening now of all times. Why was he remembering memories of the previous Paladins here and now? It didn’t matter now, he couldn’t think of them now, he needed to make sure the three of them got out of there.

With that, Coran pried off the last restraint before he turned to Shiro. “Let’s go.”

“Shiro…” Keith spoke up as Shiro carefully helped him to his feet. 

“I’m still here, Keith.” Shiro said softly, bracing Keith when the younger Paladin stumbled forward.

Keith groaned as he slumped against Shiro. Shiro easily slung Keith’s arm over his shoulder to support him and steady him on his feet. “Hey, Keith, it’s going to be alright.”

“It’s time to head home.” Coran added, resting a hand on Keith’s shoulder and offered a weak smile.

Keith opened his eyes wearily and looked at the two. “How…How can you be like this? After what I did…”

Shiro shook his head and started to drag him towards the door. “Keith, don’t start.”

_ “Why can’t you just trust me!?” _

_ “And why didn’t you trust me?!” _

Keith tensed as his and Lance’s frantic voices echoed in his ears. Lance was holding him how Shiro was carrying him now. It was starting to become clearer now. He remembered the moment he activated his bayard and drove it straight into Lance’s shoulder. Just a few inches to the left and he would have pierced his heart.

_ “It’s not your fault…”  _ Keith could hear Lance’s voice as Shiro reassured him. But how wasn’t it his fault? He was the one attacked Lance. He was the one to pull the trigger.

Panic surged through Keith, Shiro was too close. He was going to hurt him just like he hurt Lance. He should be afraid of him. He should be angry at him. Why wasn’t he? Keith groaned as his head started to throb. It was all too much, too familiar. He wasn’t going to be able to stop himself from hurting them again.

“Get away from me!” Keith suddenly cried out, shoving Shiro away from him. He gripped his head, groaning in pain and doubled over.

“Keith!” Shiro called out surprised and tried to reach out for him but Keith raised a hand to keep him from getting any closer. His breathing was becoming labored as the pain worsened.  

“Shiro…” Coran warned him as he kept his attention of Keith. Something was very wrong here.

Shiro shook his head and took another step towards the younger Paladin. “Keith, listen to me. We’re getting out of here. I’m not leaving you here.”

Keith said nothing but his breathing began to turn shallow. Shiro slowly began to reach for Keith again but flinched when Keith’s eyes shot up and stared at him intensely. “Why…are you doing this, Shiro?”

“What are you talking about?” Shiro’s hand was inches from Keith. He couldn’t look away from his eyes. They looked like the same eyes that kept him captive, the same eyes that tormented him for months.

“Your arm…” Keith said slowly but clearly. “…all the Galra has done for you, why are you resisting it?”

“Keith—?” Shiro tensed and tried to ask before his world went sideways. He had only moments to process Coran shoving him out of the way as Keith’s claws narrowly missed his face.

The space mice shrieked and hid behind some medical equipment. Shiro winced as he hit the ground but quickly got back on his feet, turning back to see Keith and Coran fighting for Coran’s gun. With the two in Galra forms, their strength was almost matched, neither of them seemed to be getting the upper hand over the weapon.

“Keith! Enough! You need to fight this!” Coran gritted his teeth as he fought to keep the weapon away from Keith.

“Why would I try to fight something that’s a part of me?” Keith hissed, before taking a hold of the barrel of the weapon and crushing it in his fist. “I am Galran and I think it’s about time I embrace it.”

In the blink of an eye, Keith tossed the damaged weapon at Shiro, catching him off guard. He grabbed for Coran, grabbing him by the neck and dangled him in the air. The space mice cried out in protest from their hiding spot.

“Keith! Let him go!” Shiro quickly recovered and raised his metal hand up defensively, “I don’t want to hurt you, Keith.”

“Shiro…You didn’t answer my question.” Keith hissed, turning his piercing yellow eyes on Shiro. The older Paladin tensed again and then, without warning, Keith hurled Coran across the room. “Why are you resisting them?!”

Coran screamed as he slammed into lab equipment with a loud crash. Jaq and Perla quickly scurried over to Coran. Just then, Shiro’s comm went off. No doubt it was Allura having gotten the call from the space mice. Shiro had no time to check if Coran was alright or to answer his comm. before Keith lunged for him again. Shiro ducked quickly, but not fast enough as Keith’s claws nicked his helmet and it flew right off his head.

“Keith stop! I’m not your enemy!” Shiro ducked and rolled to gain some distance between them.

“Answer me!” Keith roared as he struck out again.

Shiro kept on the defensive. He dodged, ducked and rolled to stay out of reach and to steer clear from the razor sharp claws. Keith’s reach was wider with his increase in size but that took away from his speed. Still, Shiro and Keith each knew each other’s moves. The match was even and it seemed like neither side was willing to give in. 

“You’re afraid of me, aren’t you?” Keith snarled, baring his fangs, “I can see it in your eyes!”

“Keith, you need to fight Haggar’s control! This isn’t you!” Shiro called out, forcing back those feelings.

Keith wasn’t wrong; Shiro  _ was _ afraid. Those golden eyes hovering in the darkness, the fangs, claws. He did feel afraid looking at Keith. Every time he looked into his eyes his panic grew, threatening to overwhelm him. He was caught between fight or flight mode. He wanted to fight this monster but at the same time he wanted to run because this wasn’t a monster.

Shiro remembered the memory of a young boy running up to him in that park. The bright purple eyed boy calling him Shiro for the first time. The boy who hide under his star patterned blanket and looked up at him angry and sad because he wasn’t sure if he understood him. How Keith could be such a pain at times but he loved him so much. That same boy was in standing in front of him now and he couldn’t hurt him. But Shiro couldn’t fight or run away now. They were all they had left from earth. They were family. Keith was his brother and he needed to save him. He just needed a plan; some way to break through to him.

Coran groaned softly amongst the pile of medical equipment that had ‘softened’ his landing. Perla and Jaq kept nudging at his face to get him to come to. Coran just groaned again and shooed then away as he slowly sat up.  His head was spinning and he could just hear the constant beep of his comm. going off over the ringing in his ears.

_ “Hello…?” _ Coran muttered into the comm. as he rubbed his temple.

_ “Coran?! What’s going on?!”  _ Allura called out to him frantically.  _ “The space mice…What’s happening to Keith?!” _

_ “Haggar seems to have gotten through to him before we did.”  _ Coran said grimly as he stood shakily. Suddenly, the ship’s alarms started to blare overhead and Coran could hear the steps of sentries and Galra soldiers approaching from all directions. The space mice cowered in the crooks of his armor and Coran closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

_ “Coran, can you and Shiro still get out of there in time?”  _ Allura asked.

_ “Even if we did. There is no way for me to convince Shiro to leave Keith behind.”  _ Coran said firmly as he held a hand to his side, his injury had begun to act up again. He was not going to abandon Shiro or Keith either.  _ “I’m so sorry Allura. Shiro was right. The Lions are more important than any one of us. You need to go. Keep them safe. Stay safe.” _

_ “But Coran—!”  _ Allura tried to argue but Coran cut her off.

_ “Allura, go!” _ Coran yelled, more forcefully than he intended but she needed to understand the circumstances. He’d been on enough missions with Alfor and the others to know when they’ve lost. This is not a battle they could win. Coran’s eyes widen when he caught the sound of electricity crackle behind him. “Goodbye…”

_“Coran—!”_ Allura cried out as the sound of an explosion ripped through the comms. She stared blankly ahead before hitting the controls with her fists. She took a quick breath and grabbed for the Black Lion’s controls. “I’m so sorry…”

Allura wasted no time as she activated the Black Lion’s cannon and tore a hole through the hull. Without missing a beat, she grabbed for the Red Lion and made it out to open space. She barely had a moment before laser blasts rained down on the three of them. She turned back and fired on the ship, taking out one of the main thrusters. That would slow them down for a bit.

With that she took off. The Black Lion carrying them further and further from the ship. Further from the others they were forced to leave behind. Allura knew she couldn’t doubt herself; she needed to get out of there. For the sake of the universe and for Shiro and Coran’s sacrifice.

She may have lost the Black and Red Paladins but she had their Lions. There was still hope. New pilots could be found but she would not give up on them. Not by a long shot.

Still, as the ship disappeared behind her, Allura began to understand how Shiro felt when she had forced him into that escape pod. Helplessness, despair, anger, sadness, guilt. It was a terrible feeling but she shoved them aside. She needed to be focused. She needed to get to earth and find the other Paladins.

It was going to be a long journey without the aid of wormholes and having to drag the Red Lion but she was confident the Black Lion would be able to get her there. Once Allura was far enough out she attempted to send signals out to the Green, Blue and Yellow Lions through their bonds she was unsure if it would reach them at this distance.

Once she got to earth they would figure out a way to get the others back, somehow. 

 

_ … _

Shiro ducked and rolled, barely missing Keith’s claws. He quickly glanced over in Coran’s direction to see if he was alright. He was standing at least and looked like he was on his comm., no doubt talking to Allura. Then, a pair of golden eyes caught Shiro’s attention in the darkness. White fangs flashed into a smirk before electricity sparked in her hands.

“Coran! Behind you!” Shiro called out as he blocked an attack from Keith and Haggar unleashed her attack _. _

Coran barely had time to dodge Haggar’s attack. The attack grazed the side of his helmet. The moment he recovered he had to tear it off before the metal could burn him. Just then, an explosion echoed from deep inside the ship, nearly knocking them to their feet.  

Keith swooped in and easily grabbed Shiro while he was distracted, pressing a blade against Shiro’s neck. He froze, eyes on the familiar purple dagger. Shiro yielded reluctantly and closed his eyes. As much as he hated it, there was nothing else he could do for his brother now.

The hilt of the dagger was still wrapped but it was easy for Shiro to remember the symbol on it. It seemed so long ago back on earth when he and Keith used to wonder what the symbol meant. They both knew now. Shiro almost wished they never found out.

“This isn’t the end.” Coran breathed out as he shifted his form back into his Altean form. The larger Galran armor easily slipped off him and he rose slowly to face Haggar. His words were more to reassure himself and Shiro in this bleak situation but hope was not lost. “Neither you or Zarkon will have control of the Lions.”

“A setback yes, for now.” Haggar said with a smirk before resting her gaze on Keith. “Magnificent, isn’t he? I’m surprised the Voltron Force is desperate enough to recruit inexperienced children as Paladins. Their emotions can be so easily manipulated, it’s laughable.”

“Their emotions are what makes them who they are.” Coran snapped back. Of course this witch would not understand the strength the universe sees in the Paladins.

“In this case, the Red Paladin’s emotions were his downfall.” Haggar smirked, glancing briefly at Keith. It was easy to sense the turmoil in his heart. It only made it much simpler to take over his mind. “It’s precious how the Red and Blue Paladins have hardly changed. They even give each other the same longing look.”

Shiro could feel Keith tense against him but it was just for a moment that he could have imagined it. Shiro glared back at Hagger. “You don’t know anything about them or any of us.”

“Is that so?” Haggar hummed, taking a step towards Shiro. “I know for a fact you do not live up to the names of your predecessors. “Zarkon would not have allowed another Paladin to undermine him.”

“Keith is not the one responsible for this.” Shiro hissed before tensing when he felt the tip of Keith’s claws dig into his neck.

“If you had been the leader you were meant to you would have seen something was wrong.” Keith suddenly spoke up, his voice cold. “You’re my brother of all people but I’ve been dealing with the truth for months and you couldn’t see. It’s like you left me all alone again like when you disappeared.” Keith spat out the rest of his words like venom.

Shiro opened his mouth to try to say something but closed it. There was nothing he could stay to make this better. These words were not from Haggar’s mind control. This was straight from Keith’s heart. Shiro just had no idea how shattered it had been.

“You found out about your heritage back when the team was separated through the wormhole.” Coran said softly, considering the timeline it’s the only thing that made sense. On top of Shiro’s life threatening injuries it was the only time the team had seen Keith hit rock bottom. The team did what they could to help Keith but none of them really knew the truth behind his anguish.  

“You’re all weak.” Haggar continued. “What made you believe you could protect the galaxy like this if you could not even trust each other and family for the matter.” Haggar noted, looking between Shiro and Keith before turning her attention over to Coran. “None of you honor the title of Paladin.”

“Enough! Shiro honors the role of Black Paladin honorably, far more than Zarkon. They all do.” Coran snapped, taking a step towards Haggar before stopping mid stride when Keith’s dagger pricked the side of Shiro’s neck. Shiro winced as small droplets of blood began to drip down his neck. Coran hesitated for a moment but knew he had to continue. “In the short time they’ve known each other they’ve learned to work together with themselves and their lions.”

“Is that so?” Haggar looked at him almost curiously though her demeanor remained amused.  

“They’ve been separated before, but they have a drive that will not allow them to stop searching until they’ve been reunited. This will not set them back.” Coran spoke firmly, voice unwavering as he stood his ground.

“And yet I was able to turn one against his own and as a result the Blue Lion and her Paladin are dead.” Haggar replied. The Voltron Lions could take an immense amount of damage but their pilots were still fragile. A small smirk curled on her lips when she noticed the Red Paladin tense at her words.

“You don’t know that.” Shiro snapped, gritting his teeth. “Keith, you know how stubborn they can be. Lance and Blue wouldn’t go down that easily.”

“I’d like to believe that but you saw what Red and I did. If the explosion didn’t kill Lance he would have bled out from his injuries.” Keith clenched his jaw.

“You don’t know that! None of us do! None of us know where they went!” Shiro argued.

“They could still be out there somewhere!” Coran recalled his old words the last time he saw the previous Blue Paladin. In a twisted irony he had seen him disappear through a collapsing wormhole.

Coran could see Kozak standing in front of him, his face altering between him and Lance’s. Lance, the boy who saved his life, the boy who didn’t want to be a hero and wished to go home. Kozak was long gone now but things weren’t the same with Lance. Lance may have been injured but he was not alone. He had Pidge and Hunk at his side and Coran refused to believe Lance was gone. He had to make it back home, to his family.

“Regardless of what you believe to be true Haggar I know they can come back from this.” Coran said firmly. “You say Zarkon honored his legacy of the Black Paladin? The original Paladins fell apart because he had been rejected by the Black Lion.”

Coran remembered there was a time where Zarkon had been so much like Shiro. At times it even scared him how alike they were. However, Zarkon had become corrupted and twisted from his lust for power. He did not believe Shiro would fall just as Zarkon did. He was more to fight for.

“These five Paladins have survived far worse and beaten impossible odds with far less training and experience.” Coran took great pride in how much the Paladins have accomplished and what they were capable of. “Their connection is strong to their Lions, stronger than I’ve ever witnessed. They are better than we ever were and will not make the same mistakes.”

“We…?” Keith stared at Coran confused.

“Coran, what are you saying?” Shiro asked just as baffled.

Haggar perked a bit before glancing at Coran, “Oh, you’ve never told them?”

“I did not deem it necessary.” Coran spoke defensively.

“No, I believe they deserve to see their mentor for who you truly are.” Haggar replied and with a wave of her hand a black smoke began to surround them.

When the smoke started to clear Shiro and Keith were stunned to see Coran wearing Green Paladin armor. Coran stood there tense and Shiro was unsure why until the rest of the smoke dissipated and they were surrounded by the four other Paladins.

“Who are they?” Keith snapped at Coran. “Why didn’t you tell us about any of them?! Or about you?!”

Coran closed his eyes and shook his head. “You weren’t supposed to find out like this—.”

“Answer me, damnit! Who are they?!” Keith yelled.

“Paladin Zarkon,” Coran said, looking to the Galran in the Black Paladin armor. He appeared far younger, yet still carried a sense of sophistication. He was practically unrecognizable in Coran’s eyes. Zarkon was no longer this man standing in front of him. He was no Black Paladin.

“Paladin Alfor,” Coran said much softer as he turned his attention to the Altean in Yellow Paladin armor. Now this Alfor he could recognize easier. He had not changed as drastically as Zarkon had. He was still his Paladin, his King and his companion…  

“And then there’s Paladin Solana and Paladin Kozak.” Coran added, turning to the remaining Red and Blue Paladins. Though, he briefly glanced at Keith and noticed his eyes were strangely fixed on the Blue Paladin.

Keith studied Kozak’s face, noting he didn’t look anything like a Galran he’s ever seen. Kozak’s was purple around his eyes hair, and upper face but everything below, his face, ears and neck were a hazel color just a little lighter than Allura’s skin. And then there were his eyes, white with yellow irises. Just below his eyes were two yellow face markings. Kozak must have been like him then, some sort of Altean and Galran hybrid but he looked better mixed, something in between the two species.

Then Keith’s eyes fell down to the smaller woman beside him, Solana. She was a beautiful Altean women and had red Altean markings just like his. There was a gleam in her purple eyes that seemed to be lit up with determination. This was his predecessor?

“Where…Where are they?” Keith spoke up, looking to Coran for answers. “They weren’t there when you and Allura woke up and there aren’t any traces of them in their Lions. They’re only ones unaccountable from your team.”

“I…I don’t know anymore.” Coran admitted, looking to the ground.

“Thinking back, I did remember hearing something about them getting trapped in a collapsing wormhole.” Haggar spoke up thoughtfully. “Then again, we assumed the Red and Blue Lions perished along with them. You could have guessed our shock when we discovered the Red Lion.”

Keith’s head began to throb and he lowered his gaze to the ground. He felt the haze in his head clear a bit but everything around him still felt so far away.

“Ko... Zak...? Solana... Sol...?" Keith repeated softly, his voice barely above a whisper that only Shiro could hear him.

“Keith?” Shiro asked softly, glancing back at the younger Paladin but his voice started to fade.

Then, an image of a man and woman staring down at Keith appeared in his mind. It was hard to make out these faces, the haze was too thick for him to be able to make out any features but he sensed a loving warmth from these people. Then, the photo on the mantle all those years ago of the tired young man and an energetic toddler appeared beside the two.

The man hidden in the haze and the photo of his father started to flicker back and forth on top of one another. He had the sudden urge to reach out to him, but just as quickly as it appeared it slipped from his grasp. The haze overwhelmed him and took over once more.

"W-Who…what…” Keith looked up at the two Paladins before looking back to Coran and he hissed. “Why didn’t you tell us anything?!”

Haggar smirked, sensing the moment Keith had faltered, but it was child’s play to drag him back under her control. “Perhaps as your mentor he was unwilling to tell you how exactly the previous Paladins fell? How easily Zarkon was able to slip through the cracks and find your weaknesses to take you out one by one?”

As she spoke, each image of the Paladins disappeared like dust in the wind. First Zarkon, then Solana and then Kozak until the only one remaining was Alfor. Then, like a candle dying out he was gone.  

“Stop.” Coran said barely above a whisper before the smoke suddenly swirled around him and his armor morphed into his old mechanic uniform before changing back into his advisor uniform.

“You never thought yourself worthy as a Paladin. What made you think you could guide these children? Look where your guidance has gotten them. I expected more from you Paladins” Haggar went on, circling Coran like a predator. She turned her attention over to the door as sentries began to fill the room. “If that child was anything like Paladin Solana it’s gone now. He belongs to me.”

“Keith doesn’t belong to anyone but himself!” Shiro snapped, finding his voice, his mind still reeling from all these revelations.   

“I figured you’d find a way to escape to save your Red Paladin, Champion.” Haggar smirked as she knelt down beside him as the sentries surrounded them. “As you can see your attempts were futile.”  

“Stop resisting.” Keith hissed in his ear, his voice turning cold once more. There was no hint of hesitance in it anymore. “It’ll only make this easier, Shiro.”

Shiro only glared up at Haggar. “I’ll kill you…” 

“So you say, Champion.” Haggar replied, an amused smirk danced on her face. “What you’ve failed to realize is that you’ve lost. There is no hope left for you now. You and your precious Voltron Force will crumble and fall like those before you and I have you to thank for that.”

“Me?” Shiro looked at her confused.

“My pets are my eyes and ears throughout the universe. I can see what you see.” Haggar smirked and cupped his chin. Pain shot through Shiro’s head and his vision began to falter. When his vision finally cleared he was staring at himself, his eyes were shifting from gray to gold. “You were all I needed to piece together what the Red Paladin truly was.”

Shiro forced his head away and she let go, breaking the connection. His eyes settled on Coran and Coran would see the confusion and panic in the younger man’s face.

“Shiro, this is not your fault. You didn’t kn—!” Coran tried to say before one of the guards knocked him to the ground. Everything quickly began to go dark and the last thing Coran saw were the Old and New Paladins standing around him.

“Coran!” Shiro called out before doubling over in pain.

His vision began to falter again and Haggar’s voice echoed in his head.

_ You’re trapped under the illusion that you can be saved but you already belonged to me.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *evil laughter* Well that was a lot of stuff please tell me what you think, what parts made you scream kick and cry :'D I would love to hear your feedback and any ideas what you guys think will come next 
> 
> Sidenote: At last I'm another chapter closer to the Galra Gala, this event I've been planning out for months that I've been dying to write >:3c and for anyone curious this comic I drew a while ago is something you can expect from the Gala there might be some minor changes to this scene like their clothes which will be Paladin formal wear but here you go enjoy~ 
> 
> http://jaegereska.tumblr.com/post/148499213691/%E1%95%95%E1%90%9B%E1%95%97-well-this-is-a-wip-im-doing-for-a-future


	7. Don't Go Away Yet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Coran reminisces his time with and without Alfor, Pidge is curious about Altean culture, and Hunk gives good hugs. Featuring a troubled Thace, who's dealing with the fact that all the odds are against them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize in advance for the 6 month wait to update this chapter :') school got busy and I got hit with massive writers block and I wanted to update after season 2 but all the new info made things a little more complicated BUT I worked it out, mostly, but I am back with a lovely Coran chapter! It's Coran. It's all Coran. And Alforan. 
> 
> Enjoy the angst~

Thace replayed the footage of the Black Lion’s escape over and over again. His eyes lingered on the Red Lion, limp in the Black Lion's jaws, for a moment longer. So much had happened in the past few hours that had shifted the balance of the war. It was in a strange area. At this point is was uncertain to say which side had the higher ground.

Thace’s ship had been approaching the prisoner ship, towing what remained of the Castle of Lions with the aid of another Galra cruiser when the Black Lion broke free. There had been a spark of pride in Thace’s heart in that moment as he witnessed the Black Lion maneuver through heavy fire to freedom, until it was shattered when he’d come to learn that the Black and Red Paladins were still held captive.

Eventually, more details surfaced that Black Paladin Shiro and Royal Advisor Coran were recaptured in their attempt to rescue Red Paladin Keith. Then, came the troubling news that during the rescue attempt, Keith had betrayed his comrades for a second time.

The initial reports were mixed, that perhaps the Red Lion acted alone when firing upon the Blue Lion since she had ejected her Paladin shortly after the act. This proved more troubling, making it unclear whether the problem lied solely with the Paladin or a deeper issue within the two.

Thace pinched the bridge of his nose to relieve some tension. Every action made, every step taken seemed to be a step back. This was not how things were supposed to happen. The ambush had been quickly organized and executed. He hadn’t been aware of their target until his ship had arrived to the coordinates and he witnessed the Castle of Lions falling through Olkarion’s atmosphere.

By then, it was far too late to act or seek aid from the Blade of Marmora. Thace had gone through every single possible scenario in that moment; any way out, anything to aid the Voltron Force. However, the odds were sorely against them. The ambush was in a remote area, too far from the Olkari’s capital city to receive any aid.  

His single ship was too underpowered to strike, and there were not enough members of the Blade of Marmora on board to take over the ship. Even if they were to eject the rest of the crew, it only would have bought them moments at best before their ship was taken down by the rest of the fleet.

It would still be one ship against dozens. Several key-placed agents would have been lost and Thace was not ready to die, not yet. Not with what was at stake.

In the end, all he could do was send in a report of the ambush to the Blade of Marmora and wait for his next orders.

It was in these moments where he was forced to wait was when Thace felt the most powerless.His thoughts lingered too much of what could have been done, if he’d tried something else or gone against orders or gone against orders to aid the Paladins.

Thace’s mind immediately replayed the moment the Red Lion had fired upon the Blue Lion. He’d gone numb and couldn’t see anything but the blast colliding with the Blue Lion and the explosion surrounding her. In that moment, something in him had snapped. He wanted to scream, lash out, but all he could do was stand there as rigid as ice as the image of the Blue Lion, enveloped in fire before she disappeared into the teledov, burned into his memory. It was not something he was ever going to forget.

Taking a deep breath, Thace reminded himself that this was not the fault of the Red Paladin. His actions and the actions of the Red Lion at the time were not their own. However, it did not change the outcome of what had happened. The damage was done.

No one had any way of knowing if the Blue Lion or her paladin had survived their injuries. Rumors were already circulating that the Blue Lion had been completely destroyed, especially from those aware of the Red Lion’s abilities. Several tasked to this mission had witnessed first hand how destructive the Red Lion’s fusion cannon had been. It had destroyed large portions of the Galra Command Ship. Against the Blue Lion, the attack may have come from a larger distance, but it was still the same destructive force against a much smaller target.

Thace forced his thoughts away from the “what ifs” as his eyes lingered on the general direction the Black Lion and Princess Allura had escaped. The odds may have not been in their, favor but perhaps there was still hope that the Princess had made it to safety.

Now, there was nothing to do but wait and prepare. Thace pulled up footage from the prisoners cell block and scanned through it, only to find Coran. The older Altean laid unconscious on his cell floor, battered and bruised, but still alive. The most noticeable injury Thace could make out in the low light was a large bruise across Coran’s cheek, just over his face markings.    

Thace absently ran his fingers against his own cheek before looking back at the monitor. He briefly played with the idea of trying to gain Coran’s trust, but his face would not be one an Altean could trust. At least, not without explanation, but that was not a luxury he could afford at the moment. As much as it pained him, Thace could not risk his identity being revealed, at least not yet.

...

Coran’s head ached, his vision blurred between the cell floor and darkness until he found himself standing in Alfor’s AI chamber in the Castle of Lions. He remembered he’d only been in there twice. The first was to help set up the AI, and the second was to take Allura back to her room to rest when she was still recovering from the rejuvenation ceremony. The only reason he had been there there was to clean up the shattered glass on the canister that had once held Alfor’s memories. He didn’t want to admit to himself that there was another reason when he stepped into the room.

“You know, I’ve meant to come visit you…” Coran sighed, staring at the shattered glass at his feet. “I suppose I was still angry and upset. Still haven’t entirely forgiven you for what you had done…”

Coran stared at the empty AI projector and could feel nothing but numbness. It almost felt like yesterday that he had come to see Alfor’s AI. Things had finally settled down, the Paladins and Allura had checked in for the night, but Coran could not find it in himself to rest, not with the knowledge of what the AI had done. To say Coran felt betrayed was an understatement.

_He didn’t know exactly what he was planning to do as he marched all the way to the AI chamber, but the moment he saw the AI Alfor, he couldn’t hold back anymore._

_“What have you done?!”_

_“Coran—” The AI tried to speak but couldn’t meet Coran in the eye_.

_“The pod was set for a basic healing process, not this!” Coran snapped, grabbing the hard light AI and pulling him off the projection platform to be eye to eye with him._ _“Do you even realize how long it’s been?!”_

_The AI opened his mouth but couldn’t find the words to make this right. They both knew what he had done and that there was nothing that could change things now. Coran could tell in those tired blue eyes that the AI knew exactly how long it had been._

“You didn’t even try to defend yourself,” Coran said softly as he swept up the glass near the base of the projector.

He had gone that entire day knowing what the AI had done, but there had been no time to confront him, not while he had to monitor the Paladins’ progress while they searched for their Lions. So, Coran did what was expected of him and kept his composure in check around Allura and the new Paladins until he had a moment to see the AI himself. 

“I went into that healing pod expecting to see Sol and Kozak soon after they came back from their mission, but it seems you had other plans.” Coran sighed tiredly. The thing that hurt the most was that there was nothing he could do now to change what happened. It was harder to bear thoughts of how things could have been.. “The four of us were supposed to figure out our next move once the Lions were safe, but instead, because of you, I woke up ten thousand years in the future, without an inkling of where they could be…alone…”

That was the only time Coran and the AI had ever spoken. After that, he couldn’t bring himself to see it, not yet. His emotions still felt raw and he told himself he needed time and space to sort things out. He was thoughtless to think their time together would last. They were at war after all.

“Why did things have to turn out this way?” Coran’s grip tightened around the broom and he ran his hand through his hair, frustrated. “I could have never imagined waking up to suddenly begin training the new Paladins and the Castle being so empty…It’s still not a sight I’m used to…Not once in my life have I ever seen it this empty…It’s just so quiet…too quiet…Then, before we knew it the Castle of Lions had become corrupted by a Galra crystal…I…wasn’t prepared to lose you again so soon…”

_Coran’s mind had been on autopilot for days, going through hundreds of protocols and procedures to keep the Castle of Lions running and out of Galra space. It was starting to become a heavy toll on him, but he pushed through it. He was still reeling from the pain and loss of Alfor, but he kept pushing himself harder and harder, anything to keep the pain numb._

_“Coran, please stop this,” The AI pleaded, catching Coran just in time from falling on his face. “You’re still recovering from the quintessence transfusion. You’re going to burn yourself out if you keep letting the guilt affect you.”_

_The AI spoke so softly that, for a moment, Coran could imagine the real Alfor was alive and well, holding him up in his arms. But this wasn’t Alfor, just a collections of memory and hard light. This was also not the first time the AI had gone outside the boundaries of his chamber to help him. It was risky and foolish for the AI to do; if he were to get too far from his core it could cause wear and damage to the data._

_“It doesn’t matter,” Coran snapped, forcing himself back on his feet and pushed away from the AI. “If I make another mistake, it could cost us.”_

_“What happened to me was not your fault; we would have both died if I hadn’t stopped you.” The AI sighed, lowering his arms to his side and his expression softening. “I did not want this either, but I’d prefer that Allura does not lose any more family…You need to take care of yourself, Coran…”_

_Coran didn’t pull away as Alfor gently rested his cheek against his so that their face markings could touch. It was an intimate gesture for their people, and it would have normally caused their markings to glow. However, it was something that could only be done between two living people. It almost felt like Coran was being touched by a ghost, and in a way, he was._

_“…I hate it when you’re right,” Coran finally spoke up as he pulled away. He’d meant for his words to come off as bitter, but he sounded too drained to get his point across. He felt the edges of his eyes sting as he turned away from the AI._

_A small part of him appreciated the touch._

“I shouldn’t have waited to come see you.” Coran sighed wearily. He had the urge to kick the glass but restrained himself. It would only take him longer to clean this mess. He wasn’t sure how much longer he would be able to stay in here before he turned into a bawling mess.

“Even though you’re gone, Alfor, that AI was still a part of you…It…made me very happy that he, you, cared for me while I was a complete mess. The AI still cared and loved me as you did in life. I was just too stubborn to cherish those few months we could have spent together…” Coran muttered, as he stared at the ground, at the hundreds of tiny reflections in the glass.

“I had to sit by and lose you all over again, and just like the first time there was nothing I could do to stop it…” Coran could barely say above a whisper.

Returning to his work, Coran absently swept up more glass and turned to dispose of it in the bin. His mind was preoccupied and he couldn’t help but glare at it,imagining the strength it took Allura to be able to shatter it. It was not something she should have had to experience.

“You’re a very cruel man, Alfor. First you die in my arms and then in Allura’s…” Coran muttered just as he glanced up to see Pidge standing by the door. Coran froze and Pidge tensed, eyes widening like a deer in headlights, and the two stood there too shocked to move.

“How…How much did you hear?” Coran asked softly, his voice cracking as he spoke.

“I’m sorry! I-I didn’t mean to intrude! I just wanted to check in on you after what happened with King Alfor and the door was open!” Pidge waved her hands frantically, mentally cursing herself for babbling. “I-l…I’m sorry…I…heard a lot of it…I…” Pidge fumbled, unsure of what she could say. When she had walked in, Coran had been talking about something about being put into cryo; she found she couldn’t move. She was just so stunned to see Coran in such a vulnerable state, pouring his soul out like that.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have eavesdropped,” Pidge finally spoke up. “I’m...I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“Pidge…its…its fine. I…would have preferred if you hadn’t seen me like that, but there’s nothing we can do about it now.” Coran sighed softly as he rested a hand on Pidge’s shoulder and offered her a smile. “It’s water under the bridge. No use worrying about it.”  

Pidge stared at Coran surprised. His voice had seemed to go back to its usual energetic tone. It felt out of place, and Pidge of all people knew when someone was putting on a brave face. Her mother would try to do the same after her dad and Matt had gone missing. She would try so hard to be strong, but Pidge knew it was eating away at her. She didn’t think she’d ever see it from someone like Coran.

Then again, what did she or any of the others really know about Coran?

Pidge shook her hand and took Coran’s hand as she led him out of the room. “Come on, let’s go.”

“Pidge…I should really finish cleaning up,” Coran said, not offering much resistance. He didn’t have much energy to question Pidge’s motives. “Where are we even going?”

“Clean up later, first you need some space sludge,” Pidge replied, Coran giving her a puzzled look.

In no time, the two were in the kitchen sitting side by side drinking the strange Altean beverage Pidge swore tasted like vanilla despite the odd color. She wasn’t going to question it; it helped make her a little less homesick. Neither her or Coran had said a word, besides the tips Coran gave her while preparing the drink.

The silence wasn’t unpleasant, but there was still a lot Pidge wanted to say, and there was so much to ask. Still, it didn’t matter. Coran needed this right now, and she wasn’t going to bother him until he was ready. Pidge took a sip of her drink as she snuck a glance at Coran. He seemed to have calmed down considerably and, at least for now, seemed content with the silence.   

“So…” Coran finally spoke up as he glanced down at Pidge. “What were you doing in the AI chamber, if you don’t mind me asking, Pidge?”

“Oh that. Well, I was just trying to find you,” Pidge replied, tapping her fingers together as she stared at her drink before looking up at him. “And Green’s been bugging me to come check up on you.”

Coran perked up and he couldn’t help but smile faintly as he raised the cup to his lips. “Did she now?”

Pidge nodded and opened her mouth, but closed it when she hesitated. “You…You were the Green Paladin, weren’t you?”

“I suppose if anyone were to have found out, it would be our present Green Paladin,” Coran replied, not sounding at all surprised.

“I had my suspicions, yeah, but then Green started to get really worried after what happened to King Alfor, so everything sort of clicked,” Pidge replied.  

“He would have preferred to have just been called Alfor around a fellow Paladin, Pidge.” Coran couldn’t help but chuckle weakly. Despite his lineage, Alfor always saw the Paladins as his equals.

“Fellow Paladin?” Pidge asked curiously. “He was a Paladin, too?”

“Yes, a lifetime ago.” Coran sighed. A weak smile lingered on his face as he took another sip of his drink. Pidge was glad this time it didn’t seemed forced.  

“So…Was Alfor the Black Paladin then?” Pidge asked before jumping when Coran spat out his drink and began a coughing fit. She frantically started to pat his back to help him recover, unsure what else she could do to help.  

“Are you alright?!” Pidge asked once Coran was able to calm down.

“Ah, yes. Sorry to give you a scare, Pidge,” Coran spoke between coughs while Pidge gave him a helpless look before he continued. “No, Alfor wasn’t the Black Paladin. He was the Yellow Paladin, actually.”

“Really?” The only time Pidge had ever seen Alfor was when he had been corrupted by the Galra crystal. It really wasn’t the best of first impressions, but there were those moments when they saw Alfor fighting the corruption. “…He really did put the team before himself, even to the very end.”

“Yes, twice now he’s given his life to ensure Voltron and her Paladins would be kept safe…” Coran said softly.

“Do…Do you talk to anyone about what happened? With Allura?” Pidge asked, clearly remembering the moment Coran had said Alfor had died in his arms. “Have you kept all those feelings in all this time?”

“Hmph, I know it isn’t healthy, but no, I don’t speak of this with anyone.” Coran sighed softly. “Allura…She isn’t aware I had witnessed her father’s death. She was placed into cryo sometime before it happened. She’s has enough on her mind right now, and I will not burden her with this. I would appreciate it if you keep quiet of what you heard for now.”

Pidge made a face, but sighed, “Alright, fine. It’s your business, but you’re going to have to tell her eventually.”

“Eventually,” Coran replied as he downed the rest of his drink.

“So…How are you feeling? I mean, from what you said all this happened not long after you were put into cryo right? That’s not a lot of time to deal with it.”

“I admit, I’m still accepting that Alfor is really gone…” Coran smiled wearily as he poured himself another cup.

“What was he like?” Pidge asked with interest.

“Hmm, kind, caring, gentle, but worried for the others. Not that much different from Hunk in those aspects, but overall he had a mellow nature. It was rare to see him angry, that is, unless one of the team was in danger. Then he was a force to be reckoned with,” Coran said fondly, remembering Alfor’s bayard once formed battle gauntlets, providing enough force to bring down small fliers.  

“How did you two meet?” Pidge asked, resting her chin on her palm.  

“Well, we’ve been inseparable nearly from birth. When we were younger, I would often drag Alfor from one adventure to the next since being Prince didn’t leave much room for little escapades,” Coran started, a smile forming on his lips. He hadn’t thought back to those days in years. “I had to remind him of that now and again.”

“Sounds like you usually dragged him into trouble.” Pidge couldn’t help but grin.

“Don’t be fooled, Alfor had a mischievous side few saw. This one time I had been passing through one of the service corridors near the Ballroom during a Gala. Alfor ran into me and ended up dragging me to the dancefloor practically on the spot.” Coran chuckled heartedly, reminiscing of that day and the events leading to their dance.  

...

_Coran had been running across the Castle from the moment they touched down on Altea. He still overwhelmed with work, finishing final day tasks for the grand Choosing Ceremony the following day. There was just so much to do; it was hard to believe time was passing by so fast. He’d just stepped out of one of the service corridors to dodge the large crowds making their way to the ballroom for the Welcoming Gala that evening. The castle hadn’t returned to Altea in years; it was fitting there would be a celebration._

_“Someone looks like they’re in a hurry,” A woman called out to him, and Coran briskly turned the moment he recognized her voice._

_“Keeper Isolde!” Coran bowed quickly as if she were royalty. Though, in the Castle of Lions, she might as well have been._

_“No need to be so formal around a friend, Coran.” Isolde crossed her arms but offered him a reassuring smile. “Besides, the formalities only really matter at tomorrow’s Paladin Choosing Ceremony.”_

_Coran let out a breath. His work had seemed to triple with all the preparations for the Choosing Ceremony, and he’d hardly had a moment to catch his breath. “Nervous? This is going to be your first ceremony after all.”_

_“Hmm, a little, but I have faith in who the Lions and I decide for Paladins,” Isolde replied with resolution in her eyes. “For all you know, I might choose you as a candidate.”_

_Coran looked away, rubbing the back of his neck and couldn’t help but laugh nervously. “Careful, the walls have ears. Your mother, the former Keeper of all people, wouldn’t approve of you choosing favorites.”_

_“It won’t be picking favorites if the Lions see you’re worthy,” Isolde said firmly, unsure of Coran’s reluctance. Something told her he would make a great Paladin, but that was to be decided tomorrow._

_“I suppose…” Coran muttered under his breath._

_“Hmm...Wait, why are you still in your uniform?” Isolde asked, noticing Coran was still in his apprentice uniform. “The Gala is about to begin.”_

_“I’m aware. I can barely make my way through the castle without running into guests.” Coran sighed loudly, glancing at Isolde’s peach colored ballroom dress, which matched her short curly hair. She also had golden flecks of makeup, bringing out her blue and gold eyes, which went nicely with her umber skin. “You look very nice this evening might I add.”_

_“Thank you, but don’t try to change the subject,” Isolde replied, not being able to contain her grin. “Alfor has been frantically asking around for you.”_

_“He has?” Coran looked a bit surprised, and Isolde’s grin grew when she noticed that had gotten his attention._

_“Don’t tell me you haven’t had a chance to see him since the ship has landed?” Isolde gasped over dramatically, resting a hand over her chest._

_Coran opened his mouth to argue but seemed to hesitate before looking away with guilt written all over his face._

_“Coran,” Isolde gasped, “Your grandfather isn’t cruel enough to keep you from visiting between your dozens of duties.”_

_“More like millions of duties at this rate to prepare for the ceremony,” Coran sighed, crossing his arms. “Besides, it’s not like we haven’t talked all these years. We’ve spoken over vidcomms. Alfor can wait a little longer; I’m not going anywhere.”_

_“Coran, you’re breaking his heart, you know.” Isolde looked at him, amused, and Coran wasn’t sure he believed her. She’d always been the teasing type. “You haven’t seen that sad look in his eyes every time I told him I hadn’t seen you or that you were unavailable._

_Coran groaned loudly, rubbing his temple, “Where is he?”_

_“Already in the ballroom.” Isolde gave him a small wave as Coran bid her farewell and jogged past her._

_Coran didn’t have a lot of time, but he could spare a moment for Alfor. He cut through a few of the service halls and arrived at the ballroom sooner than he thought. The service corridor brought him to the second level of the ballroom. He took a deep breath, unsure why he suddenly felt nervous. He shook off the feeling as he made his way through the growing crowd and approached a balcony to better look for Alfor. After a quick scan, he didn’t spot him on the lower levels, at least not from where he stood.  He pouted and glanced back, wondering if Alfor had decided to step out to the balconies to get some fresh air before the festivities were fully underway._

_Coran decided to take the chance and stepped outside, welcomed by a nice evening breeze. He took a deep breath. The smell of juniberries filled the air, and he felt he was home for the first time. He looked around the balcony, noticing a few of the Gala’s attendees, mixed between Alteans and other species, were scattered the area._

_Then, off to the side, Coran spotted a young man with white hair, tied back in a large braid that rested over his shoulder. He was also dressed in blue, gold and white robes, worn traditionally by the royal family of Altea. Coran’s heart skipped a beat, and he grinned as he approached Alfor, careful not to let him know he was there._

_Coran waited until he was standing beside him, grinning when he realized Alfor hadn’t quite noticed him yet. Perhaps he was lost in his thoughts. “I hear you were looking for me?”_

_Alfor jumped, startled to hear his voice before turning quickly to face him. He laughed, resting a hand over his chest. “Coran, you scared the quiznak out of me!”_

_Coran laughed along with him and crossed his arms as he offered him a playful smirk. “Did you miss me--?”_

_“Of course I did!” Alfor grinned, embracing him tightly before Coran could even finish his sentence. He pulled away after a moment to get a good look at him. "So, what great things have you been up to? Without me?"_

_“Learning the ropes of how to run this place, more or less,” Coran replied, smiling at him fondly before his smile faltered. “Which reminds me, I don’t have a lot of time. I still have a few things I need to finish up before the end of the day.”_

_“Right, right. Isolde mentioned you were busy,” Alfor sighed and offered him a weak smile. “So, you won’t be able to stay for the Gala? Not even for one dance?”_

_“Uh, I got things to calibrate and uh..." Coran tried to speak but realized he lost his words the moment he looked at Alfor’s sad puppy eyes. Although he wanted to say yes, he kept thinking of the many duties that required his attention, but the look on Alfor’s face was too powerful. It was getting physically hard to even think about saying no. “One dance.”_

_Before Coran knew it, Alfor took him by the hand and they were halfway down the stairs to the ballroom when Coran realized he was still in his engineering uniform. He tried to dig his heels into the ground to try to slow him down. “Alfor! I can’t go down there and dance looking like this!”_

_“You look perfect to me.” Alfor looked back to him fondly._

_Coran’s face turned a bright shade of red, and he grumbled as his legs weakened enough for Alfor to keep leading them down. He looked around for any excuse to get him out of this before spotting Isolde standing beside her mother, observing the dancers._

_Isolde giggled when she spotted the two of them, and her mother gave him a stern look, likely for his attire. Coran shuddered and glanced quickly at Isolde. “Isolde, help.”_

_“Have fun, I get next dance~” She giggled ,and Coran’s felt the tips of his ears going red._

_Coran was too much of a flustered mess to realise that Alfor twirled him until the room spun and they were inches apart. Alfor smiled and took one of Coran’s hands in his own and rested the other on his shoulder. Coran was still trying to process the action, unsure of if he had tripped or if Alfor had actually pulled him closer._

_“Um, so...Are you sure you didn't mean to ask Isolde to dance?” Coran started to ramble as they began to sway back and forth to the rhythm of the music. “I mean, I know we both got the same hair and you tend to have a thing for redheads but-”_

_Alfor laughed and smiled at him fondly. “I have the entire night to dance with my two favorite people, but since you can’t stay you’re all mine right now.“_

…

Coran smiled fondly at the memory, remembering Alfor had ran them into another couple just a moment later. It had been Alfor’s turn to get flustered.

“Alfor was too excited to particularly care that I was still in my engineer uniform. Not the first time I had taken part in such a formal event without the proper attire…” Coran chuckled softly. “Well, actually, I think it was the first time, but certainly not the last. I think after the fourth time or so, the dress code for these occasions became a little less formal.”

Pidge couldn’t help but laugh at the mental image. “Why hadn’t you seen each other in so long?”

“Back in those days, the Castle of Lions was constantly on the move to aid the Voltron Force, just as we are now. At the time, I was an apprentice under my grandfather,” Coran explained, his mind wandering a bit. If he concentrated hard enough, he could imagine the voices of the past filling the castle. “And Alfor lived in the Altean Castle to attend to his duties.”

“So you only saw each other when the ship landed on Altea?” Pidge asked.

“Not exactly. We’d cross paths, mostly during diplomatic missions, or kept in touch with vidcomms, but that Gala was the first time we’d seen each other in years…and well, I was mortified, getting dragged out there looking like that.” Coran chuckled heartily. “Still, I couldn’t say no to that face. It was one of the best nights of my life…”

“You loved him, didn’t you?” Pidge watched Coran with a weak smile.

“Hmm, very much so, yes.” Coran smiled, but there was a sadness in his eyes. “Still do.”

“And did he love you too?” Pidge asked.

Coran couldn’t help but laugh softly as he reminisced. “That was the first night Alfor had touched my face markings…”

“So, is that a yes…?” Pidge raised an eyebrow, not entirely sure what the gesture meant.

“Yes,” Coran clarified, realizing Pidge would not understand the significance.

“Um, so the face markings thing, was that sort of like a kiss?” Pidge asked curiously.

“You could say that. Just a bit more intimate, I suppose,” Coran replied with a smile. He was a bit amused watching Pidge attempt to process that information.

It was rare for Coran to encounter someone without some context for Altean culture. Alteans had aided significantly in building the universe to what it was in his time. Times had changed, and Pidge was also from a planet with no exposure or knowledge of the known universe; it would make sense that she had no context. Still, it was nice to see Pidge wanting to learn.

Coran leaned over to refill their cups. He somewhat understood why the Paladins took to calling the concoction “space sludge”. It really did look like space, he thought as he watched the iridescent drink swirl into the cups. He slid a cup to Pidge and let his mind wander a bit, laughing when he went back to that night with him and Alfor.  

“What?” Pidge asked, taking a sip.

“Just remembering something. Apparently fate decided I hadn’t been mortified enough that night,” Coran muttered, his thoughts elsewhere.

_“I still can’t believe you did that,” Coran muttered, mostly to himself, when Alfor had caught up to him in front of his room after he’d finished his duties. He was too tired to return to the Gala, but the memory of their dance was still fresh in his mind. He still felt a little light on his feet._

_Alfor only gave him an innocent grin. “Well, I have to remind you to have a little fun now and then, don’t I?”_

_Coran scoffed. “Have I really gotten that serious?”_

_“Afraid so,” Alfor chuckled, watching Coran fondly. “You didn’t seem to mind.”_

_“Hmph.” Coran stubbornly turned away, crossing his arms._

_Alfor perked up a bit and watched him, puzzled, trying to read him before he straightened and cleared this throat. “If my actions made you uncomfortable, I apologize.”_

_Coran’s ears went red, and he shook his hands furiously. “No, no! Tonight was…Amazing. And no need to be so formal around me of all people.”_

_Alfor stared at him, a little surprised by his outburst, but relaxed at his words. A gentle smile formed on his lips and he rested his head against Coran’s, causing their markings on their faces to emit a gentle glow. “I’m glad. I’ve missed you. I hardly remember a time we’ve been separated this long.”_

_Coran relaxed at his touch and closed his eyes. He took comfort in the small, intimate gesture that represented a deep lifelong trust for their people. “Hmm, we’ve practically been together all our lives. I’ve missed you too.”_

_They stood there in silence for a moment, enjoying each other’s company. It was hard to believe that it had been years since they were both standing in the same castle. Life took them on different paths, and neither of them regretted the decision to part ways._

_“Coran?” Alfor spoke softly._

_“Hmm?” Coran hummed as he opened his eyes just as Alfor stroked his thumb along his face markings. Coran’s breath caught, and Alfor smiled in return._

_“Do you mind if I do another foolish thing tonight?” Alfor asked._

_“You can do as many foolish things as you’d like tonight,” Coran spoke without thinking. A pin drop could be heard in that moment. Coran realized the implications of what he said and immediately wanted to be launched into a teledov._

_Alfor laughed and raised Coran’s chin, waiting for Coran’s okay. Coran was still frozen for another moment, before he nodded briskly, not trusting himself to use words. Alfor smiled at him fondly, and Coran’s mind went blank the moment Alfor pulled him closer to embrace him and their markings touched._

_Coran expected the glow. What he didn’t expect was the pleasant warmth washing over him from head to toe. It was as if the warmth connected to each of his markings on his body. It made him wonder what it would feel like if any of their other marks touched at the same time. He flushed and bit his tongue to try to send the thoughts away. This was the Prince of Altea of all people._

_Alfor let out a deep sigh as he ran his hands gently through Coran’s hair. Coran tentatively rested his head against Alfor’s shoulder and played with the end of his braid. He felt like he was just about ready to combust and considered the possibility Alfor had somehow read his thoughts. The timing was lined up too perfectly._

Coran couldn’t help but laugh. Pidge perked up and looked at him, puzzled. “What?”

“Oh, I just remembered telling Isolde about us. It had to be after the Choosing Ceremony since things got pretty hectic because we were both chosen as candidates for Paladins,” Coran said with a deep sigh. “She teased us endlessly, even after the Castle had departed from Altea. More so that time since we were leaving as Paladins.”

“Wait, there’s a ceremony for choosing Paladins?” Pidge gave him a look, remembering how they were assigned their Lions by Allura, strangely matching them by color.

“That’s a story for another day,” Coran laughed, not knowing where to even start. “Your choosing was a bit unorthodox, but necessary.”

“Okay...so who was Isolde?” Pidge asked curiously.

“Allura’s mother,” Coran replied, glancing down at Pidge. “Alfor and I knew her since we were children. However, when she became of age, she went to live on the Castleship to train as the Keeper of the Lions.”  

“Keeper of the Lions?” Pidge asked. In a way, it sounded like she’d been a lion tamer. Would that work for giant robotic lions?

“It meant she shared a spiritual connection with the Lions, just as Allura does now,” Coran explained, noting Pidge’s confusion. “It also meant she piloted the ship and could operate the teledov.”

“It’s not just royals who can use the teledov, then?” Pidge asked.  

“Not technically. It just takes a person with enough quintessential ability and the proper training,” Coran explained, staring at his empty mug.

“What was Isolde like?” Pidge asked, curious to know about Allura’s mother.

“Isolde was a dear friend to both of us. Allura gets her passion and drive from her. She was playful with those she cared for, but when it came to her duties as Keeper she could be a tad serious, which was part of her charm, I suppose,” Coran replied with a small smile.

Isolde had the same beautiful umber skin as both Alfor and Allura, and similar blue eyes but instead with gold irises. Back in those days, she had kept her hair fairly short, only just reaching to her shoulders, and pinned it up to one side to show off her curls of peach colored hair. When Alfor began to court Coran and Isolde, the two would still tease him that he was attracted to redheads.

“What happened to her?” Pidge couldn’t stop herself from asking as Coran was pulled from this thoughts. She regretted it the moment she noticed Coran’s smile falter but there was no way to take it back now.

“She’s gone…been gone for some time now,” Coran said softly. “I would prefer not to go into detail…”

“I wish I’d gotten the chance to know Isolde…and Alfor,” Pidge replied, resting a hand on his shoulder, and Coran couldn’t help but smile.

“The two of them would have treated the five of you as if you were their own. Especially considering how young you all are to be brought into this war”, Coran chuckled softly.  

“Sometimes I wouldn’t mind having another adult or two around, but at least we have you, our honorary Space Uncle, and I guess Shiro kinda counts. Though, he’s more of the stressed out but caring big brother.” Pidge laughed along with him.

“I am honored to be the Paladins Space Uncle,” Coran grinned, pouring them another cup of space sludge.

“But anyway, how young can we be to you guys? How long are Altean life spans exactly?” Pidge asked curiously.

“By human standards, about a thousand of your years, give or take,” Coran replied, counting his fingers to make sure he did the math right in his head.

“Seriously?” Pidge looked at him, surprised.

“To think how shocked we were to learn your ages and your typical life span,” Coran chuckled, shaking his head, “Though, as a Paladin of Voltron, you share quintessence with your Lions, which gives you a bit of a boost. It’s unclear as to how exactly that will affect your lifelines. I wouldn’t want to part with any of you any time soon.”

“Same here,” Pidge said with a light smile before a thought came to mind. “I wish I could have seen more of your people and Altea. It’s a shame so much history and knowledge are just…gone.”

“Indeed it is.”

Coran’s thoughts wandered to the people he’s loved and lost from the war: Alfor, Isolde, his grandfather, family and friends on Altea and throughout the universe all these centuries ago. Everyone had been taken away from him, no matter how hard he tried to save them, until only Kozak, Solana, Allura and even the Alfor AI were all that remained.

After doing everything he could to fix the damage Zarkon had caused and failing, he woke up in another lifetime. Coran hated to admit it, but Zarkon, the man responsible for all this suffering was among those people taken from him. It pained him; Zarkon was what Shiro is now for the team, and he couldn’t bare to tell Pidge, not yet anyway. He’d rather not let the past doubt their judgment and bonds with their Lions.

Now, the only one Coran truly had left was Allura, and he supposed the Lions as well. He’d known Allura since the moment she was born. She was family, and it was because of her that he stayed strong for the both of them.  

“Hey, Coran?” The concern in Pidge’s voice brought him back, and Coran jumped, He looked around, momentarily forgetting where he was, but couldn’t make out any details of the kitchen. He looked down at her, finding it difficult to see and didn’t understand why he couldn’t find his words.  

“Are you okay? What is…?” Pidge questioned Coran, trailing off the moment Coran turned to look at her.

First, Coran’s markings were glowing, but not at all how she’d imagined. It wasn’t soft like Coran had mentioned, but much harsher and likely blinding to Coran since it was so close to his eyes. At first, Pidge wasn’t entirely sure what was going on until she noticed the tears streaming down his face, glittering against the turquoise light. When the first tear fell, it was like he couldn’t stop.    

She wasn’t sure what to say. Coran just kept staring at her, looking so far away that he didn’t even seem aware of the tears.. She’d seen people upset--her mother after the Kerberos mission--but this was different. This pain was something Coran has kept to himself, as if he was just coming to terms with everything he’s truly lost: his people, his home, everything. Maybe he hadn’t even realized how much it had been affecting him.

Still, she hadn’t expect Coran to break down in such a way. She honestly expected something more hysterical to match his outward personality, not this quiet grief. It was unnerving, and she didn’t know how to help him or how to get him to stop. She did the only thing she could, and went for the hug.

Coran seemed startled, but made no move to stop her. His arms hung out awkwardly for a moment, as if he were still processing what was happening until he finally lowered them to return the embrace. The two said nothing for a while--neither had anything to say, really. What was there to say?

Pidge heard the familiar whoosh of the kitchen door sliding open. She looked over just in time to make eye contact with Hunk while he was in mid greeting, who froze the moment he spotted Coran’s state. He stared at Coran, mouth agape quickly looked back and forth between Pidge and Coran.

“Uh...Should I...Maybe...I’ll come back later…?” Hunk stuttered out before Pidge rolled her eyes and furiously motioned him to come over. “Oh, right, that’s a better idea.”

Without another word, Hunk headed over to the two and embraced them, surprise to see how little Coran reacted to his presence. Hunk had no idea what was going on or why Coran was so upset, but he knew better than to ask questions. He could always ask later, after all.   

Eventually, Coran’s markings dimmed enough so that he could see a tuft of chestnut hair below his chin. Coran played with a strand, absently wondering if the younger girl would ever be able to manage her wild hair, or when Hunk had arrived, even though he appreciated his support and presence.

Hunk had begun to fill the silence at some point, talking about anything and everything, including a new dish he’d been planning to make based off an Altean recipe he’d found. “You wouldn’t mind helping me try to make it, would you, Coran? Since, I can’t really read Altean. Plus, it’s something we can do together, ya know?”

“Oh, I actually found a Learning Altean guide in the ship’s database,” Pidge spoke up.

“Oooh, that would be great too,” Hunk noted, thinking it was still strange how easily they had come to understand the alien languages they’ve encountered. “Not really sure why we haven’t been learning it already, since the Lion’s translations don’t help with reading.”

“Yeah, you should join me for a session, but bring your bayard. You’re gonna need it.” Pidge cringed, already getting war flashbacks from the simulation.

“What?” Hunk looked at her, confused, “Wait, you’re not messing with me, are you?”

Coran let out a weak laugh, surprising the two. It was the first time he’d reacted to anything. Pidge and Hunk shared a smile and keep talking. Their conversation led to Hunk suggesting a new bonding exercise for the team, since everyone, especially Allura and Shiro, could relax, with Lance and Keith at each other’s throats.

While the two talked, Coran’s thoughts slowly began to clear. He realized that this was the first time he had visibly shown any of the Paladins his grief. He thought he was pushing it showing Pidge, but Hunk’s presence just complicated things. Coran had been doing all he could to keep his troubles away from them. Just another way he’s failed, he supposed.  

Coran had always kept his pain silent; he was far more useful if he didn’t break down when work was to be done. Overtime, he supposed it harden him when tragedy struck, but that didn’t stop things from hurting. He’d just power himself through it for the sake of others.

“Thank you, Pidge, Hunk...I apologize for worrying you,” Coran finally spoke, his voice barely above a whisper as he pulled away. “I...Don’t know what came over me.”

“Coran, don’t apologize,” Hunk sniffed, going in for another hug, already on the verge of tears himself. “I don’t know what’s going on, but we’re here for you, alright?”

“Coran, you’ve been keeping the pain of losing your planet and the people you care about for way too long,” Pidge added, taking off her glasses and rubbing her eye, her own vision clouding over the ordeal. “It’s not like you’ve had time to deal with it, so don’t be sorry about it.”

“I suppose, but where’s the time?” Coran forced a smile. “We’re fighting a war and there is no one else who can tend to the duties of the Castle, after all.”

“Teach me, then. I can help!” Pidge blurted out, putting her glasses back on. “You know everything there is to know about this place. I can be your apprentice.”

“Count me in,” Hunk added, letting go and turning to face Coran. He shouldn’t have to do this on his own.

Coran looked at the two, surprised that he could practically see himself as a child asking his grandfather the same question. A faint smile formed on his lips. He didn’t want to admit he was getting up in the years, and it would be nice to have additional help. Who better to help than the Green and Yellow Paladins themselves?

For a moment, Coran could see a little himself and Alfor in Pidge and Hunk. The two were already very good friends and worked well together. They were more than qualified to help; they both had a very good understanding of engineering making them the best candidates out of the team. Coran had a good feeling about them and knew he wouldn’t have to worry about them too much.

“Well, how could I say no to that face?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed Coran :) I love him very much as a character and wish he got more love. I promise this time I won't take 6 months to update the next chapter I actually had to cut this chapter because it was getting too long so I have a lot to work with for the next chapter ;) 
> 
> Also I'm sorry if this chapter didn't really drive the plot forward as much, and I might have mostly flashbacks next chapter but they take place with Team Voltron before the ambush in chapter one, back when Shiro was in cryo around the start of season 2, sorry I had to rethink some parts of the fic thanks to season 2, but not too much, anyway here's what's coming next: 
> 
> Hunk, Pidge and Coran have some bonding time doing fun tech stuff with robots while Lance, Keith and Allura have some nice bonding time of their own, a.k.a Spa Date (because I don't see enough content of these three just chilling, having fun as friends) 
> 
> Anyway! Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think of the chapter ;D Your comments are very encouraging since I've been hitting slumps now and again and really help motivate me. Thank you again!
> 
> Also bonus image of my previous Team Voltron including Alfor, Coran, Zarkon, Isolde, Kozak and Sol: http://jaegereska.tumblr.com/post/156110479336/the-voltron-paladins-these-dashing-young


	8. Reflection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taking a step back, Pidge and Hunk deal with being back on earth while Lance is still recovering from his injuries. They have a lot to think about like what happened to the rest of team and what they were supposed to do now. There also seems to be more to what happened to Lance than Pidge completely understands when she dragged him to the Green Lion during the wormhole jump. Hunk and Pidge reminisce back to simpler times to when Coran took them under his wing as his apprentices. Coran thinks backs to his time with some of the previous paladins and makes a startling revelation once he fits the pieces together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *cough* So I'm like a week late I actually wanted to post this on the day of the anniversary some other things came up but it's done! XD also I'm sorry the order of events in this story is kinda weird? I keep going back before the final mission during Keith's betrayal tho I realized I wanted to get some world building in before I get the moving moving forward, particularly to a scene I've had in mind since like last July which is the Galra Gala, which is more or less Zarkon showing off how much he's crippled the team and going more into Shiro's past in the arena and tension between him and the new Keith :V plus of course Coran sees some old friends of course hi Zarkon annnyyywwaaaay I will get to the Gala soon I promise XD Anyway please enjoy!

**_Two Days Since the Ambush_ **

Coran’s memories faded from him as his consciousness slipped back into darkness. He was surrounded once more by Haggar’s illusions. Each of the previous paladins stood there watching him in silence. He could hear Keith and Shiro’s confusion in the lab. He was going to tell them, tell them the truth but he never thought anything like this would happen. Their capture, finding out like they did, it wasn’t supposed to be this way.

_“Where…Where are they?”_ Keith’s confusion and anger was clear in his voice as he looked at the missing Blue and Red Paladins.

_I don’t know._ It was all Coran could say.

_“Why weren’t they with you when we found you?!” They should have been there. He never should have been put into stasis._

_Something must have happened._ Haggar had mentioned something about a collapsing wormhole but Coran wasn’t sure whether he could trust her and if she was telling the truth in any way.

_“Why didn’t you tell us anything?!”_ Keith’s anger was only growing. Perhaps even sounding desperate? Sad? Confused?

_I was afraid._

“You never thought yourself worthy as a Paladin.” Haggar’s voice echoed in his mind.

Coran gripped his head tightly, the throbbing worsening as his thoughts went to Sol, Kozak, Isolde, Alfor, and even Zarkon.

_I failed them._

_“What made you think you could guide these children?” Haggar’s voice echoed again, “Look where your guidance has gotten them.”_

Coran suddenly appeared in a large field of grass under a green star filled sky. He tried to take a step but felt himself collapse while his form flickered as if he were merely a projection.He should not have been here, yet, he had an odd feeling that he was home again. He hadn’t been back in years and this place was not his anymore. It belonged to a Green Paladin. It belonged to Pidge.

“Coran?!” A voice suddenly called out to him in the field. Coran looked up, startled, and saw Pidge running towards him, the Green Lion standing behind her, vigilant.

Pidge tried to reach for him but the moment she was in reach he disappeared. She stumbled and tripped in before feeling the sensation that she was falling. She looked up and could see the battle they had just fled from, now inside of the Green Lion. She watched helplessly as she witnessed the moment Keith fired on Lance and the Blue Lion just before she had gone through the wormhole. Everything was going on so fast, Pidge wasn’t sure when she’d grabbed a hold of the Blue Lion and was stumbling herself to the cockpit.

“LANCE!” She called out as she rushed to the pilot seat. She could see his helmet and armor were badly damaged from the explosion, a lot of it charred black. Lance was slumped over the command console and there was so much blood.

She remembered calling out his name and tried to move him. Hunk was talking to her through the comm, asking if Lance was okay. Pidge was about to answer him when she finally saw Lance’s eyes and she didn’t know what to say. His eyes were wide open and his irises were glowing gold.

Pidge woke up with a start, the memories of the nightmare already becoming hazy in her mind. It took her a moment to remember where she was when saw her room’s old walls in her family’s home, rather than the familiar walls of her room in the Castle. She took a deep breath; right, she was on earth again. They’d only been back for a couple of days and this was the first night actually back in her home. Lance was still in the Garrison being treated for his injuries. She was back from wherever her dreams had sent her. She tried to make sense of what she had just witnessed.

Before she knew it she found herself getting out of bed making her way quietly through the hall until she stopped in front of Matt’s door. She took a breath before opening the door and stepping inside. When she looked up, her eyes locked with Hunk’s from across the room and he screamed, clearly startled to see someone this late in the night.

“Oh, I forgot you were in here.” Pidge winced, her mom had offered the room to Hunk, rather than have him sleep on the couch.  

“Pidge! You scared the quiznak out of me!” Hunk whined.

“Sorry, um, why are you just sitting on the bed?” Pidge couldn’t help but ask. Hunk didn’t even look like he was using any of the blankets on the bed.

“Okay, um, I know it’s gonna sound stupid, don’t take it the wrong way or anything, but I don’t know.” Hunk sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he glanced around the room. “It kind of feels like being in a ghost’s room…I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that!”

Pidge was quiet for a moment and took a look around the room. Nothing has changed at all in the past year and a half that Matt’s been gone. “No, no, I know what you mean...”

“I’m sorry...we’re gonna find him, Pidge. And your dad, and the others!” Hunk said quickly. “We’re going to find everyone and everything is going to be okay again. I mean, it has to, right?”

“Yeah…” _I hope._ Pidge forced a smile and moved to sit beside him. She picked up a rubik’s cube that was sitting on the desk beside the bed and abs **e** ntly began to twist and turn it. The memory of the dream was slowly piecing back together and the clearer the memory got, the more she wanted to understand what it meant.  

Hunk was unsure what else to say and the two sat there in silence. They both wanted to be hopeful, but there was just too much they didn’t know. Neither of them knew for sure if anything was ever going to okay after what happened. They didn’t know if they’d ever see the others again or the rest of her family for that matter.

“You know,” Pidge spoke up, looking up at the old glow in the dark stars on the ceiling, “This room used to spook me a little, for a while I would try try to avoid it as much as I could, but after having a nightmare I stumbled in here, and felt a little better. It kinda made me feel closer to Matt, wherever he was.”

“I know what you mean.” Hunk said, looking up at the old, dimly lit glow in the dark stars. “When I talked to my parents earlier, they said my little bro and sis, Micah and Zoe, have been camping out in my room for the past few months since I’ve been gone.”  

“I guess we miss our big brothers,” Pidge’s smile was a little less forced that time. “You know, you don’t have to stay in here if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“Pillow fort in the living room then?”

Pidge was caught a bit off guard by the offer but nodded. With that, the two of them gathered as many pillows and blankets they could carry and made their way to the living room. On the way there they ran into Mrs. Holt on the stairs. She looked a little surprised to see they were still awake but took note of all the blankets and the pillows and put two and two together.

“Hot chocolate?” She offered.

“With marshmallows, please?” Hunk asked and Mrs. Holt nodded as she she headed back down towards the kitchen.

“Thanks, mom.” Pidge called back to her, her voice slightly muffled from the blankets in her arms.

Hunk yelped suddenly and Pidge looked over to see he’s nearly tripped over Jiyu and had fallen over onto the couch to avoid the small dog. Jiyu picked up his head and looked up sleepily towards the couch as Hunk tried to untangle himself from the mess of blankets. .  

“Alright, let’s do this.” Hunk popped up from behind the couch once he was free and looked up at Pidge determined.

“Right,” Pidge replied, carefully stepping over Jiyu but nearly tripping when the dog decided to get up anyway to see what the fuss was about.

Once Jiyu found a comfortable spot on the armrest, Pidge and Hunk got to work. Pidge pulled out the cushions on the couch while Hunk used a rope to tie a sheet up like a tent. In no time, the two had made a decent set up and were sitting comfortably in the mass of pillows. Jiyu found a more comfortable spot in Hunk’s lap and the two relaxed while they waited for the hot chocolate.

“You know, I haven’t made a pillow fort like this since like winter break before we left.” Hunk noted as he looked at their work. “Micah, Zoe, and I had a set up like this and stayed up all night watching movies.”

“Want to find a movie to watch then?” Pidge offered.

“Sure,” Hunk smiled and Pidge fumbled around, looking for the remote. Once she found it, she turned on the TV and paused when she saw the news was replaying her speech from a few days ago. From what they gathered from the briefing with the Garrison, the world already knew about the Galra.

The ship that had been chasing them when they first left earth had returned to Earth. It was likely to assess the place for the Galra Empire, whether to turn the planet into a slave planet or destroy it completely and mine it for its resources. They managed to take the ship down somehow and it landed not too far from the Garrison.

During the debrief, the Garrison had mentioned there were several hidden weapons and tech caches hidden around the canyons surrounding the Garrison. It was almost like they had been anticipating for something to happen since Kerberos, for all Pidge knew, they may have been expecting something to happen for far longer.  

Then, the Garrison dedicated their time to reverse engineering what they could of the technology from the drones and the crashed ship and relayed messages in the Galra language to keep them away. It was actually ingenious, Pidge had to admit. They’d also sent out their own early warning and communication drones out as far as Kerberos to warn them if any alien ship was approaching. So, they were definitely taken by surprised when three robotic Lions had landed on their front door.

There was still a lot that the Garrison hadn’t told them about what they knew of the Galra or the ship. They had become too preoccupied to ask for more information, trying to stabilize the Blue Lion’s condition and scan communication feeds for any word on the others.

Two days passed by quickly and Pidge wasn’t even sure how much either of them had slept. She figured they would have crashed about now at the Garrison but before it could get that far, her mother insisted they’d come home to rest. They needed time to process what happened and Pidge couldn’t disagree entirely.

“You did pretty great with that speech, eh Pidge?” Hunk spoke up, startling Pidge a bit as she was jolted from her thoughts.

“Oh, uh, I mean, all I did was make sure we didn’t get arrested and quarantined.” Pidge shrugged a bit sheepishly as she glanced back at the TV for a moment before switching the channel.

“Come on, Pidge, you did good.” Hunk patted her shoulder. “Don’t sell yourself short.”

Pidge smiled weakly before leaving the channel on a cheesy late night movie channel. The movie seemed to be about alien encounters and space exploration. Pidge was half tempted to change the channel but left it on for the irony of it. Hunk didn’t object and the two tried to piece together the plot since it already seemed to be a few minutes in.  

“So...earlier you mentioned something about going to Matt’s room when you get nightmares.” Hunk spoke up after a while. “Want to talk about it?”

“I...don’t think it was a nightmare…” Pidge had spent some time thinking over what she saw. “I know this is going to sound crazy, but first...I saw Coran”

“What? How? Why didn’t you say anything sooner?” Hunk rambled before stopping himself to take a breath. “Okay, was it actually him or…?”

“I don’t know, I mean, when I called out to him he looked startled but relieved…” Pidge sighed, rubbing her temple. “We were in this huge field with the Green Lion and there were stars everywhere.”

“What like some sort of Paladin magical connection, astral plane thing or something?” Hunk asked curiously.

“I guess? I don’t know…” Pidge replied, though that place did feel otherworldly, as if it was in another plane of existence.

“Well, what happened next? Did Coran say anything?” Hunk asked.

“No, he didn’t  get a chance to. The moment I got to him he just disappeared…”

“You don’t think he’s…” Hunk cringed, not wanting to even finish that thought.

“No, no! I mean, I’m not sure…” Pidge groaned and buried her face into one a pillow, “At least I don’t think so...He didn’t look like he was dying or anything...he was standing but was kind of like a ghost, like he didn’t have a good connection to the place...but the way his eyes lit up when he saw me running towards him...That was the moment it felt like it was really him…”

“Maybe this is a good sign then?” Hunk offered, dropping his gaze down to Jiyu as he have him a pat on the head. “He’s alive, as far as we know, and maybe you can try to find a way to connect with him again with Green.”

“I guess…”

“What’s wrong?”

“That wasn’t all I dreamed…” Pidge looked away. “I had that dream again, the one when I went to go help Lance in the wormhole…”

“You shouldn’t have had to do that on your own. I should have gone in and got him.” Hunk stared absently at the TV.

“Lance was hurt, it’s not like we had time to argue…” Pidge sighed and rubbed her eyes, “It’s still hard...seeing him like that…”

Pidge wasn’t sure about how to tell Hunk about what she saw. Lance’s eyes, his connection with the Blue Lion, the quintessence just flowing through him. She wasn’t even sure how much she understood of what she saw that day. She wasn’t sure how to explain it to Hunk and there wasn’t enough time to tell if Lance could remember when he woke up briefly in the Green Lion. She was scared to admit it, but part of her wondered if the connection between Lance and Blue was what kept him alive during the explosion.

“Hot chocolate’s ready,” Mrs. Holt spoke up as she walked over with a small tray with three mugs and a bowl of marshmallows. She knelt down by them and handed the them each a mug. “I overheard a bit of what the two of you were talking about…I had a talk earlier before we left the Garrison with Lance’s doctors. He’s was doing a lot better today. Should wake up on his own any day now.”

“That’s good to hear.” Hunk smiles weakly, putting a few marshmallows in his cup before taking a sip. Pidge only nodded and muttered a thanks as she tossed Jiyu a marshmallow.

Colleen took her own cup and considered the two for a moment. She had a broad understanding of the sorts of things they had endured over the past few months. It couldn’t be easy to be burdened with the task of being Defenders of the Universe. It was clear to see how much of a toll it was taking from the now. They’ve barely eaten or slept since they’d arrive; they were far too worried about the fate of the rest of their team.

They were children who should have been worried about grades and such, but they were brought into something far bigger. Though, Pidge and Hunk hadn’t spoken much about the events that lead them back to earth. Colleen didn’t blame them. Whatever had occurred to them left deep wounds that were still fresh in their minds.

“How are you two holding up?” Colleen asked. Hunk and Pidge share a tired look before looking back at her.

“Hanging in there, I guess…” Hunk offered a weak smile.

“It's...weird to be home...after being in the Castleship for all these months…” Pidge stared at her cup.

“What was it like there?” Colleen asked curiously.

“So, it’s this gigantic, highly advanced Castle and battleship all in one. Each tower housed each of the Lions, though they could also all fit inside of the main hanger,” Pidge explained before she paused when she remembered seeing one of those towers break away during the crash. “Er, anyway, Coran mentioned years ago it was full of people that helped the Paladins, but now it was just the 7 of us and the space mice.”

“The place was fully loaded though,” Hunk added, counting off on his fingers. “A training deck, observation deck, labs, cryo pod rooms, kitchen...I tried to make cookies once, didn’t turn out well until I picked up on more Altean. I did improvise a lot of our meals.”

“Anything was better than having food goo all the time and Coran’s Paladin lunch.” Pidge shuddered, though she didn’t want to admit she had been actually been craving food goo recently. It couldn’t beat her mom’s home cooked meals though.

“Oh, definitely.” Hunk shook his head before perking. “Oh! There was also a pool!”

“A pool?” Colleen asked, an amused smile on her face.

“Yeah, it was weird though, since it was on the ceiling for some reason, but Allura was able to fix it.” Hunk added before glancing over at Pidge. “Remember that time when we were all at the pool when Shiro was still in the healing pod?”

“Oh yeah, it’s felt like ages since then.” “It was just after we finished up working with Coran in the Forge. It was nice and actually felt like our first break since we left Arus.”

“No kidding,” Hunk sighed, “We really had been moving nonstop since then…”

“Coran,” Colleen looked at them curiously, “You mentioned him in your speech, he trained you, correct?”

“Yeah and it worked out too since he was the Green Paladin before me.” Pidge replied. “I was the first one to find out.”

“I was the second, by accident.” Hunk replied, raising his hand. “He did more than just trained us with Paladin stuff though. He’s Allura’s royal advisor, practically keep the Castleship up and running on his own until he made Pidge and I his apprentices.”  

Pidge pulled out her phone and flipped through to find a picture and held it up for her to see. Colleen noted that the three of them were standing in a factory like looking room with rows of damaged sentries lined along the walls.

“What were you three working on?” Colleen asked. The three appeared to be working on a particular sentry that appeared to badly damaged, but still repairable. She noticed that this particular sentry had an orange moustache painted on it’s face, much like Coran’s.

“It’s hard to believe how much happened since we took this…” Hunk said softly.

…

**_One Month Ago_ **

A few months after Coran had taken Pidge and Hunk under his wing he decided to take them to a closed off part of the castle. After their initial tour of the place, Coran had told them this area was strictly forbidden due to structural damage. It was dangerous enough that Coran had them all wear hardhats. Neither of them could figure out why now of all times Coran wanted to take them down there but they followed without argument.

At first, this section of the Castle didn’t look so bad but the further they got in, the more they could see the damage done to this part of the ship. They began to see damaged walls, twisted panels and exposed circuitry. It looked very much like the perfect setup for a sci fi horror movie. Hunk gulped as he pulled a hover cart along with them. They could only assume Coran wanted to find something at the very least partially functioning or salvageable to bring back.

They kept going further until they came to a set of large doors that was covered in soot. By the doors, there was a large sign that read ‘The Forge,’ the surrounding walls were covered in Altean writing and Coran gave the wall a light pat before taking out his torch.

“So, what happened to this part of the ship?” Pidge asked, shining her flashlight over the wall. She knew Altean well enough to figure the text were a list of names.

“There was so much chaos during the escape from Altea that when this section of the ship was damaged there was simply no time to stop and repair it, so this area was sealed away.” Coran replied as they stopped in front of a rather large and impressive door. He took out a torch and began to cut away at the metal. “We actually had to cut power down in this area to ensure an explosion wouldn’t go off.”

“So this is why you said the west wing is forbidden,” Hunk muttered, his eyes lingering on the altean writing. He’d just been able to make out a few names when Coran finished cutting through the door.

“For the last time, this isn’t the west wing, it’s the--” Coran turned to face them before a loud crash behind him, startling the trio.

Hunk screamed when their lights revealed the mangled remains of a sentry hanging limb on several cables and wires. The robot’s faceplate was gone, leaving seared and damaged wiring beneath it exposed.

“Hunk, it’s alright, no need to be afraid. It’s just one of the Castle’s sentries.” Coran rested a hand on Hunk’s shoulder before moving forward to take a closer look at the sentry. “Er, well what’s left of one anyway.”

“Right, that makes thing so much better.” Hunk muttered sarcastically under his breath.

“It looks like one of the training bots...” Pidge brought her flashlight up to give Coran more light.

“It’s similar, but not the same model. I believe this was an engineering sentry. This is The Forge, where we had once constructed our own.” Coran replied as he shoved the sentry out of the way. He stepped through the opening to make sure it was clear to continue before motioning them to follow, “As you can see from the state of this place, there’s a reason why we don’t have more just simply walking around.”

“Okay, but tell us again why’d you bring us down here?” Hunk asked, looking around nervously.

“Since we have the ship docked, it’s the safest time as it can get to come down here.” Coran explained, “This is good training to help you deal with hazardous work situations. You’ll need to grow accustomed traversing through dangerous environments within the castle.”

“That makes sense, I suppose.” Pidge replied as she glanced around them.

“Okay, still it doesn’t make this place any less creepy…” Hunk muttered as he pulled the hover cart with them as they picked their way through the industrial section of the castle. The walls were covered in scorch marks and there was a layer of soot and grime to everything. Machinery and the metal panels were twisted and badly damaged.

“We won’t be in here for long,” Coran reassured him, walking around a rather large hunk of shredded metal. “I’m afraid we weren’t able to do much to the state of this place back before we had gone into stasis.” Coran sighed a bit, trying not to let his thoughts linger too long on the past before pressing onward. “We don’t have the manpower quite yet to restore this place, though I would like to take a look at what can be salvaged and repaired and incinerate the rest for resources.”

“You think there’s still something left here to salvage? Looks like a warzone.” Pidge looked at him surprised.

Coran stopped in his tracks as he leaned down to inspect a pile of damaged sentries. “Warzone? Yes, more than you’d think actually. This was where Zarkon’s uprising truly began. Several of the Galra crew members aboard the Castle had turned against us, siding with Zarkon and they had attempted to take over the ship.”

“What? Seriously?” Hunk looked at him surprised, nearly dropping a piece of tech he’d been examining. Coran had mentioned beforehand that the Castle’s original crew had been rather diverse with hundreds of different species working together, including the Galra. “All the Galra that worked in the ship just up and turned traitor?”

“Not all of them, fortunately.” Coran sighed, as he stood up, tossing a few salvageable tech into the cart before marking the pile for scrap. “If that were the case, we may have never discovered Zarkon’s intentions before it was too late. We owe those loyal crewman everything…”

“So what happened?” Pidge asked.

“Once the traitors realized we were onto them, they got desperate and changed plans.” Coran replied as they moved further into the room. “They tried to set off an explosion in the drive core to take out the ship.”

“The crewmen, including several of the loyal Galra, managed to corner the traitors and they’d locked themselves here in the Forge,” Coran gestures to the damage around them. “You can see the results for yourselves...Everyone who entered the Forge that day, crewmen and rebels...There were many casualties…You recall the wall of names we pasted to get here?”

Pidge and Hunk were silent and took a moment to process it. There were hundreds of names on that wall and they realized it was a memorial. Each name handwritten since there was likely very little time to mourn their loss. The two looked at each other and then to Coran, unsure what to say, though Coran seemed to lost in his own thoughts.

“We lost a lot of good people.” Coran sighed, “I’d nearly been one of them. Only got out of it with a few scrapes and burns. One of my former apprentices hadn’t been quite so lucky...”

“Former apprentice?” Pidge looked confused.

Coran jumped, realizing he just said that out loud, “Oh, right. I forgot to mention back when we had a full crew, I had been training a handful of new apprentices. Falen, one of my best. A young Galran, driven,  always eager to learn.”

“What happened?” Hunk couldn’t help but ask.

“We were giving chase to the traitors and were racing to the Forge.” Coran sighed, the memory appearing to him like it was yesterday. “She’d been the last one to rush through the doors; I had only been a few steps behind her. Moments later the explosion went off...She was one of the few survivors we could find, but her wounds were severe.”

Coran could still remember the ringing in his ears and how shaken up he was. Alfor had been at his side, telling him not to blame himself for what happened. He was battered from the ordeal but his injuries were nothing compared to Falen. Alfor kept talking to him, even when Coran couldn’t speak. _It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have known what would have happened. I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost you._ Coran just listened, his words helping keep him grounded. He just watched where Allura was standing in front of her pod. A few others were with her, friends and family.

“She and Allura had actually been close friends. Most of Allura’s close friends had actually been with many of the younger crewmates since they’d all grown up aboard the ship.” Coran reminisced, thinking back to a time when the ship had actually been home to several families, not just the Voltron Force.   

“Did she pull through?” Pidge asked.

“The last time I saw her, she was being put in an evac shuttle in a healing pod.” Coran sighed while he marked another pile of junk as scrap.

“So, maybe she made it then?” Pidge offered, picking up what looked like circuit board with shrapnel imbedded it it, she frowned and tossed it in the junk pile.

“I liked to think she did but at times I hoped she didn’t.” Coran couldn’t help but admit. “I still haunted at times what may have been to everyone left behind and what they had to endure as Zarkon’s empire and strength grew.”

“I’m sure everyone who was left did everything they could to fight for their freedom.” Hunk spoke up, unsure whether or not he was saying the right thing. “Everyone who was part of this crew, your family, your people, everyone from a 10,000 years ago may have lost, but we aren’t going to forget about them. We’ll keep fighting for the future they were striving for and for everyone here now that need our help.”

Coran stared at Hunk a little surprised before a small smile formed on his face and he nodded. “Thank you, Hunk. I...didn’t realize that was something I needed to hear.”

Hunk only offered him a reassuring smile before they continued forward. Pidge patted his shoulder as she passed him. She was glad Hunk had decided to walk into the kitchen all those weeks ago when he did. She wasn’t all that good with words as she’d like to be. She probably wouldn’t have said anything if she and Coran had been on their own.

The three of them moved on, making sure not to stray too far from each other since the structure of the room was a bit unstable. The further they got it, the eerier the Forge grew. Pidge had been so caught up with everything around them that she didn’t notice the loose floor panels until the floor gave way under her.

“Pidge!” Hunk and Coran called after her.

“I’m okay! I’m okay! Something caught me…” Pidge called back not too far down and they flashed their lights down to her, seeing that she had landed near a handful of sentries that looked melted together.

“Try not to move too much, Pidge, we’ll see about getting you back up here.” Coran called out as he rummaged through their supplies for rope while Hunk kept the light on her.

“Don’t need to tell me twice…” Pidge muttered, she’d rather not fall down any further in this death trap. It didn’t take long for them to hoist Pidge up and Coran left a warning mark to show the area had a long drop.

“Hey, is this the place where the bomb went off…?” Hunk asked, noticing where Pidge had fallen looked to be more like the rim of a crater.

“Huh, I believe you’re right Hunk.” Coran replied after taking in the area.

Pidge looked back to where she fell, noticing the melded sentries again. “The sentries looked like they’re linked together on purpose...There’s more of them along the crater...Did they try to use themselves as a shield for the blast?”

“I wouldn’t put it past them,” Coran replied, his tone soft. “Their original programming involves them protecting lives, even at the cost of their own. Their actions may have very well prevented permanent damage to the ship.”

“It’s a shame more of them didn’t survive this. It would be a relief to have more of them around.” Hunk added

“Ah yes, there was a time when it was strange if you didn’t at least see one out and about in the halls..” Coran noted, motioning for them to follow and keeping a better eye for loose floor panels.

“They protected you, so did they ever fight alongside you?” Pidge asked curiously, making sure to keep clear from the edge.

“Yes, each were equipped for combat, but none with the same firepower as the Galra sentries.” Coran moving on and picking up a what looked like what was left of a pipe or something.

“What do you mean?” Hunk looked at him puzzled.

“For starters, most carried non lethal weapon.” Coran held up the pipe and the two realized it had actually been a staff. Some even had to make due with the tools they had to serve as weapons, such as hammers and fire axes. I witnessed one go through a squad of Galra sentries with only gardening tools at its disposal.”

“Brutal but effective. Nice.” Hunk replied before picking up a piece of a chestplate nearby. Most of it was still intact. “So, I’m guessing they were still meant to take a hit?”

“Yes, but then there came a time where labor and resources could not keep up with maintaining them during the war.” Coran replied. “And with no proper place to repair them they served little purpose to us besides scrap metal. However, there are a few that remain I’ve kept aside for repair.”  

“So is that why we’re looking for parts?” Pidge perked up.

“Precisely.” Coran replied and couldn’t help but smile when Pidge shrieked in delight.

“We’re gonna work on the robots!” Pidge grinned from ear to ear.

“It’s gonna be a lot of work but it’s definitely going to help us later.” Hunk couldn’t help but smile.

…

It took some backtracking and luck to get back to the entrance of the Forge. Pidge and Hunk didn’t let out a breath until Coran had sealed the hole they had entered in and were glad to be out of that death trap. Coran lead them back to a much more stable part of the wing to a workshop. It was hard to make anything out until Coran flipped on the overhead lights.

“This was once my grandfather’s personal workshop, I inherited it when I took over his position.” Coran said motioning to about a dozen or so sentries on the floor or on tables. “This is where I’ve kept the salvageable sentries.”

Pidge was at a loss for words and shrieked in delight as she took in all the tech and equipment around her. Coran couldn’t help but smile as he pulled the hover cart into the workshop, setting it down beside one of the work table. He knelt down to go through their salvage while Hunk took a closer took at a sentry on the table.  

“Heh, this one has a moustache on it’s face like you, Coran,” Hunk snickered as Pidge walked up to get a closer look.

“Hmm?” Coran perked as he stood up, holding a sentry leg. “Ah, yes, Pidge, Hunk, meet Dekar. Dekar meet Pidge and Hunk, our new Green and Yellow Paladins. Apologies for keeping you out of the loop, old friend.” Coran smiled as he wiped a bit of dust off the sentry’s face.

“You named this one?” Pidge watched him curiously.

“I’m actually rather fond of this one in particular.” Coran chuckled softly, “I tinkered with its personality chip when I was young. It used to give me rides on its shoulders. I also programmed its voice to mimic my grandfather’s to startle him and his apprentices. It startled Kozak the most since he’d usually be the one my grandfather would chew out.”

“What happened to him? He looks pretty banged up.” Hunk noticed the missing back plating and cracked armor.

“Caught in the Forge explosion,” Coran sighed, “It’s sentimental really, but one of the reason’s I’ve been so persistent to repair him is because he’s very much like family. He was actually very helpful on the team and during missions. Could hold his own in a fight, could hack, helped with sparring. Even helped me make Paladin Lunch.”

Pidge and Hunk couldn’t help but shudder at the thought of Paladin lunch. Pidge shook her head and looked up at Coran, “So, you want to help put him back together first?”

“Yes, I believe I have all the parts I can find in the Forge,” Coran replied. Now that he thought about it, the last time he’d been in the Forge to look for parts had been with Kozak.  

...

_“We are not going back in there,” Kozak_ _hissed through gritted teeth, still trying to catch his breath as he leaned against the wall. “We barely got out of there alive. We were almost crushed by that pipe.”_

_“Alright, alright, you’re right. Fine. We’ll lock it up.” Coran raised his hands in surrender. Kozak just sighed and looked relief that even Coran admitted it was becoming too dangerous to go back and forth inside the Forge with the Castle constantly on the move. “You know, becoming a father has made me a bit more concerned for my wellbeing. I’m not as reckless as I used to be in the old days, Coran.”_

_“Sol would murder me, then haunt the both of us if I let anything happen to you.” Coran sighed heavily._

_“You’re not wrong…” Kozak sighed as he stood up and stared at the salvage Coran had brought back, a sentry torso plate and some wiring. “What do you even want all this scrap for?”_

_“I’ve been working on a project of sorts.” Coran didn’t explain further until they got to the workshop._

_Kozak raised an eyebrow at the powered down sentries across the workshop. “I thought these were scrapped for parts.”_

_“Most of them were, I managed to keep a few.” Coran explained as he walked with him through the workshop. “It might be a little selfish with our lack of resources, but it feels wrong having a ship without them. They are part of the crew as much as we are.”_

_“So you want to fix them?” Kozak rested a hand on his hip._

_“We’ve been losing so many of them so fast in battle...Most of these are engineering class.” Coran went on as he stopped in front of Dekar, holding up the wiring to check what needed to be replaced. “There’s enough in here for a maintenance crew. They’d be able to lighten the load. Everyone is strained as it is. I’d like to help however I can.”_

_“And the only place you can find more parts is a death trap.” Kozak sighed loudly. “Well, I don’t approve of your tactics but I’m glad you didn’t go in there alone.”_

_“I’m glad you went with me. I’m sorry for putting you in danger.” Coran sighed softly as he worked on some wiring in Dekar’s head. “I promise I won’t go back in there. We were lucky with how many close calls we had.”_

_“We have a stupid amount of luck,” Kozak hummed before squinting when he recognized the silly moustache on Dekar’s face. “Hey, I thought this guy was caught in the explosion. He shielded Falen didn’t he?”_

_“She probably would have died if it hadn’t been for him.” Coran said softly before looking up to meet Kozak in the eye. ”“I’ve been trying to repair him, mostly for sentimental reasons I suppose...There are still parts that I need to get him to be functional again.”_

_“You can’t just move his personality drive to one of these?” Kozak asked, tapping one of the less intact sentries._

_“I can’t remove it without causing irreversible damage.” Coran sighed softly._

_“Is he even still in there?” Kozak asked, tapping the large blue optic on the sentry’s forehead._

_“He can hear you.” Coran couldn’t help but smile a little._

_“How can you tell?” Kozak gave him a look._

_“Just a feeling,”_

_Kozak knelt down and stared at the optic again. For a moment he could have sworn he saw it light up, but it could have been his imagination. He wasn’t sure. Kozak took a deep breath and patted what was left of Dekar’s shoulder lightly. “Well, If anyone can fix you up, it’s Coranic.”_

“Let’s get to work you two,” Coran clapped his hands together as he glanced back at Pidge and Hunk with a fond smile. He hasn’t been able to do this on his own but with their help he knew anything was possible.

…

**_Two Days Since the Ambush_ **

Coran tried to reach out for Pidge but immediately felt himself pulled back into the darkness. He blinked and was suddenly inside of the Castle’s shuttle bay. There was noise coming from all around him where hundreds of Altean refugees were milling about back and both. Yet, despite the noise there was a somberness in the air. Shuttles were being boarded by weary faced Alteans and a handful of other races he recognized as members of the Castle’s crew.

He looked down and there was a datapad in his hand, listing several shuttles and the names of people boarding them. Right, they were clearing out the ship in order to hide it away. When Alfor was still…

Coran looked up quickly, scanning the crowd when he spotted a familiar flash of white and golden armor. Alfor stood among the refugees and crew, overseeing their departure and providing assurance. He spoke to a few and aided however he could to assure his people’s safety and offer them some peace during this difficult transition.

Allura was by his side and the two were speaking. They were too far for Coran to hear what they were saying but he knew them both well enough and already knew what they were discussing. Allura did not approve of Alfor’s decision to hide away the Lions and the Castle; insisting to remain and fight on. Based on their current composure, Coran could see Allura remained persistent, to the point of frustration, while Alfor stood firm on his decision. Though, there was a weariness in his shoulders each time he tried to mask each time he spoke to another one of his people.

It was not an easy decision to make, Coran wasn’t even sure he agreed with it, but the burden to make that decision must have been overwhelming to say the least. However, they couldn’t afford to put the civilians in danger in the event that the Castle was discovered again. It was more beneficial for them to regroup with other Altean colonies while the Voltron Force laid low for the a while.  

It struck Coran with each quiet goodbye and longing looks, that many of them have called the Castle their home for years, for some even for their whole lives. However, the secrecy of the Castle’s location was of the utmost importance right now if they were going to keep Voltron out of Zarkon’s hands.

“How you holding up?” A voice spoke up beside him. Coran turned and looked down at a shorter Altean woman with a round face and long wavy reddish black hair.

“Things are changing so fast, Sol.” Coran sighed, his gaze lingering back towards the crowd. “I don’t think any of us are prepared for it…”

“I suppose...” She sighed, resting her elbows on the railing. “Things have been pretty hectic since the last escape.”

“We’ll likely have to move again once the refugees and crew clear out.”

“You going to be okay? The three of you alone on this ship while Ko and I head out with our Lions?” Sol asked, motioning back to the only two Lions left in their hangars. Her gaze lingered on a handful of children standing around the Red Lion, taking one last look before they’d have to go, a few daring each other to touch the metallic beasts.

“It’ll certainly be a lot quieter without the two of you here.” Coran smiled weakly as he followed her gaze.

“We’ll be back before you know it.” Sol returned the smile.

“Shouldn’t that be a goodbye you’d say to your child?” Coran asked.

“Maybe,” Sol responded, following his gaze. “I’ve always seen you like a little brother, so that makes you family.”

“I feel the same.” Coran said softly, “Have you figured out what to do for Akira yet?”

Coran glanced over to one of the children, from where he could see, the boy’s messy purple hair and splotches of purple on his skin stood out the most. The boy was standing beside one of the legs of the Blue Lion and rested a hand on it as he tried to peek around. Kozak peeked out from the other side and whistled to get Akira’s attention. The boy shrieked in delight and chased after his father.

Sol sighed deeply as she watched the two. “I hate the thought of leaving him here on his own since Ko and I are heading out soon…And I hate the thought even more of sending him off with the others...”

“I could help keep an eye on him for you two,” Coran offered. It was difficult to consider sending family away, especially a child.   

“No, it’s fine.” Sol sighed and shook her head. “Besides, you have your own set of problems to worry about getting this place ready to disappear.”

Akira’s laughter rang through the hanger, when Kozak hid behind the Blue Lion, waiting for the moment to strike and scooped up his child in his arms when Akira found him. Coran felt unease prickle in his gut; he glanced to see near every Altean in the room look at Kozak and his child with the same expressions and the unease twisted into a painful knot.

They feared them. Two galra in their eyes when in reality, it was a father trying to distract his son by playing a game and a boy too young to understand fully what was going on.Coran could tell from Kozak’s stance, he was shielding his son from them in whatever way he could.

There weren’t many those of Galra blood aboard the ship anymore. Perhaps only a handful of the crew remained loyal to the Voltron Force and had not sided with Zarkon during the uprising. The Castle had nearly been taken over by those in the crew loyal to Zarkon. Then, due to following recent attacks from the Galra, many of the refugees have been keeping their distance. Coran didn’t think it was fair of them to judge, but fear and angry during war was a powerful thing.

“Get back to quiznaking work!” Sol snapped at the gawking Alteans. “We have hundreds of civilians to clear out! If you have time to stop and stare then you're clearly not doing what you're meant to! Move it!"

Kozak looked over to Sol as the Alteans began to disperse and gives her a weary but thankful smile. Sol sighed and turned the smile before glancing over to Coran. “Akira’s been spooked since the attack…Doesn’t help these fools see him and Ko no different than the enemy, maybe even Zarkon himself.”  Sol crossed her arms as she threw dirty looks at the closest Alteans.

Akira perked up when he heard his mother’s voice and grinned from ear to ear when she spotted her and Coran. Kozak sets him down and he ran over, or more like trotted over with a bounce in his step.

Akira shrieked as he ran over and latched himself onto Coran’s leg. His fluffy hair suddenly turned bright orange and the purple splotches on his skin disappeared as his red Altean markings reappeared on his face. Akira was at the stage of development where his shape shifting was more sensitive that he’d take on the characteristics of those close to him through touch. Normally, it would happen once they’re older, but it has been known to set in early for mixed children. Akira’s favorite trait from Coran was his hair. Coran was flattered to say the least.

“Corn! Corn! Corn!” Akira called out to Coran, looking up at him the biggest of smiles on his face as he reached out to be picked up.

Coran couldn’t help but laugh as he picked him up. Akira hugged Coran tightly and nuzzled his cheek affectionately against his, the younger boy’s marketing glowing bright red while Coran’s glowed light blue.

“Mind if I join in on the love?” Kozak grinned and hugged Coran and Akira and nuzzles his face teasingly into Coran’s, causing his face marks to glow yellow. His voice was a bit carefree but Coran would make out the bittersweetness in his voice,“Don’t miss us too much, alright, Coranic?”

“Don’t be gone too long.” Coran chuckled, bouncing Akira gently in his arms, “Then it’ll really get too quiet. Not to mention all the work it’s going to take powering this place down.”

“With your skills you could run this entire place on your own if you wanted.” Kozak replied as he pulled away and wrapped an arm around Sol. She smiled and rested her head back against his chest.  

“I’d prefer not to…” Coran groaned softly, “Especially since we’ve lost functions in the Forge…”

“Only teasing,” Kozak hummed, grinning when Coran had to lean back when Akira tried to grab for his moustache.

“We won’t let you finish this all on your own.” Sol replied with a gentle smile.

“I’ll hold you to that,” Coran replied, looking at Sol and Kozak. “Stay safe out there…”

“Will do,” Kozak replied before Coran cried out and winced when Akira slipped past him and tugged his moustache.

Sol laughed and moved to helped pry her child off of him. It took some coaxing but she was finally able to get him to let go of Coran. The moment she took him in her arms, Akira’s hair turned into a reddish black like his mother and freckles dotted onto his face.

“Corn!” Akira giggled before while Coran rubbed his moustache, trying to ease the pain.

He opened his mouth to say something but no words came out as his attention lingered on Akira’s current form. The dark hair, pale skin, dark purple eyes...There was something familiar about them. Suddenly, Keith appeared in his place, his face covered in freckles, ears pointed and red markings on his cheeks before his skin and hair shifted to a purple color, then, back again to his human form.

Coran woke up with a start in his cell, gasping for breath from the shock of it and takes a moment to compose himself. One of the thing that haunted Coran after waking from stasis was that he never knew what happened to Akira. Sol and Kozak never mentioned what they decided to do with him after they had gone for good, but…

His thoughts went to the memory of Akira; the small bright child clinging to his leg, his hair purple, orange, then black...The same purple eyes staring back at him, of another boy, looking at him as he yawned, ruffling that messy hair of his as greeted him good morning; during training, how those eyes lit up when he defeated his opponent, at dinner when this boy stole fond looks at everyone at the table, the people he now considered his new family since he’d grown up without them...

“Keith…?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ Did you guys enjoy the space Kogane family? I sure did anyway I had to split this chapter in two because it was getting too long so you're gonna see Lance, Allura and Keith bonding time during the spa date in the next chapter which HOPEFULLY shouldn't take too long to get done but I also have to finish up my internship and summer class soon ;w; anyway I hope you enjoyed it please let me know what you think your feedback is very encouraging SHOUT OUT TO iwrtsnsntshrtsrnms FOR ALL THE LOVELY COMMENTS REALLY JUST I hope you're having a lovely day thank you so much for all the wonderful comments ;w;


	9. Distant Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Hunk, Pidge and Coran are exploring the Forge, Lance, Keith and Allura spend some time together and have a spa date. They start to learn a little more about each other. Keith starts to open up more about growing up with Shiro and confides in Lance what about what happened to him when he was attacked in the river and nearly drowned by the alien river creature. Then, we see a brief look at what Shiro experienced when he was on his own with the Black Lion before the team found him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise this is the last flashback chapter, I know I haven't gotten back to the main plot in a while but I felt this part was too important since it parallels with Coran, Hunk and Pidge's bonding time and goes into how Keith starts to heal from his traumatic experience turning Galra and nearly dying. Anyway, the next chapter should pick right back up with Keith and the others in the present plot line :V Oh and at the end of the chapter I'm including a timeline for more or less everything up until now to help since I know there's been long waits between chapters to help keep the timelines organized and easy to understand ;) Enjoy the next chapter!

**One Month Before the Ambush**

Keith’s head felt groggy as he stared blankly at the wall. He was exhausted, but each time he closed his eyes, he was back in that river, struggling to breath while he tried to break free from the beast’s jaws. He raised a hand to his face. No claws, no purple skin. He was relieved that no alarms had gone off this time, so at least that meant the Red Lion hadn’t torn up her hanger again trying to get to him. Just then, he felt another nudge at their bond. Speak of the devil.

_“I’m fine, Red…”_ There was a soft grumble in response, and he knew she wasn’t convinced. Despite her fierce nature, the Red Lion had become a comforting presence when he woke up in a panic. Keith wasn’t sure if she had always been this way, or if it was a new development.

He closed his eyes tiredly, and his thoughts lingered with the dream. Something was different this time. He remembered times times he would catch a glimpse of the surface while struggling. In those moments, he would see an Altean woman with red face markings standing on the shore. He wasn’t sure what to make of her, or why she was there.

Something about her felt familiar, but he’s only remembered flashes of her between the nightmares. She’d hold him in her arms, run her fingers through his hair, kiss his forehead and she’d look at him with  sadness in her eyes. A few times, he even thought she might be the Red Lion. He wasn't sure how to explain, but the woman felt similar to Red's comforting and motherly presence.

_A mother..._ Keith closed his eyes, feeling as if he was about to drift into another restless sleep when the door slid open.

“Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty!” Lance sang as he marched in, wearing nothing but a swimsuit.

Keith groaned loudly from beneath his covers and pulled them tighter over his head. He had enough things on his mind, and just wanted to left alone and actually get some sleep.

Lance gave him a stern look and crossed his arms. “Oh, no, you’re not spending another day cooped up in here.”

“Who’s gonna stop me, you?” Keith muttered, instantly regretting it when he realized it sounded like a challenge.

The next thing he knew the blanket was yanked off of him. Keith tried to tug back, but Lance knew this dance too well from trying to get his niece and nephew out of bed in the morning. He quickly swiped the blanket off the bed, dragging Keith down with it.

“Good, at least you’re out of bed now.” Lance grinned as he tossed the blanket aside.

Keith shot him a glare before he sat up and raised an eyebrow, “What are you wearing...?”

“Swimsuit, got one for you too.” Lance tossed him a pair of red trunks. “Now hurry up and get dressed.”

“We have a pool...?” Keith gave Lance a dumbfound look.  

“Yeah, long story. Come on, we can’t just leave Allura waiting. Our spa date awaits!” Lance grinned at him, and Keith felt like he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Keith was surprised to be hit by a wall of steam, and it was a lot warmer in there than he thought it’d be.

“Oh my god, it’s perfect,” Lance sighed dreamily as they stepped out of the elevator.

“There you are.” Allura smiled as she approached. Her hair was up in a braid, and she was wearing a light blue, ruffled dress-swimsuit. “I was about to send the space mice to go find you.”

“Miss me, Princess?” Lance grinned playfully.

“You haven’t been gone _that_ long.” Allura shook her head but smiled before turning to Keith. “You, on the other hand, are a different story. How are you feeling, Keith?”

“Okay I guess…” Keith shrugged, “What about you?”

“Hanging in there.” She offered him a reassuring smile, though she couldn’t help but notice the faint scars on Keith’s chest and stomach. Keith still hadn’t told anyone what happened before they found him, but after examining his armor, it was obvious that he had been attacked by some sort of creature. Whatever happened was traumatic enough to give him nightmares.  

Though, she was glad Lance had taken to finding ways to help Keith, whether it be speaking to him or setting this up for them. “So, Lance, what do you have in store for us for this...Spa date?”

“Okay, first, some ground rules,” Lance said as he gestured behind him to a table he’d set up for them with a few towels and some jars of face cream. “Everyone gets a face mask, no exceptions. Next, no talking about Voltron, or paladin stuff, or whatever it was that happened to Shiro during the rescue mission, the Black Lion, the wings, no, none of that. Today is spa day, where we all take a breather and just relax.”

Keith bit his lip at the mention of the Wings of the Wraith--at least, that’s what Coran and Allura had called them. They were the most advanced ability among the lions and could only be activated with a bayard, or so they had thought.

By the time the team had tracked Shiro down, he’d had been pinned down in an asteroid field by two Galra cruisers. The team had managed to open a comm channel open, and Shiro had sounded disoriented and exhausted. The only thing they’d managed to make out was that he was injured badly by Haggar’s magic and had been trapped down there, evading the Galra by sharp maneuvers through the field. The team knew Shiro didn’t have much time, but the two cruisers kept the Castle and the Lions at a distance while the fighter jets kept their focus on Shiro. No one was really sure what happened when the wings activated. The Black Lion phased through the fighters, the cruisers, and even the asteroids until she and Shiro phased through the walls of the ship and crashed into the main hangar. Now the two of them were in comatose states, so they wouldn’t have any answers until they awoke.

“You make it sound easy not to think about this stuff, Lance.” Keith crossed his arms and gave him a look.

“Well, I suggest giving it a try. Now put this on and hold still, Keith,” Lance muttered, handing Keith a hair tie so he could help him apply his face mask.

Normally, Keith would have protested if he had more energy. He sighed and decided he might as well humor Lance, then pushed his bangs off his face to tie his hair back. Lance got to work applying the cream.

“Don’t you ever moisturize? It’s like sandpaper,” Lance groaned under his breath before going on about the importance of skincare.

“You could just let me do it myself.” Keith rolled his eyes.

“You need a professional to help this disaster. Now quit moving so much.”

“It’s cold and tickles.” Keith crossed his arms.

“What are you, five?” Lance smirked at him and dabbed some cream on the tip of Keith’s nose. Keith crossed his eyes to look at the dab. and Lance burst out laughing, not believing he would fall for that. Keith face went red and looked away.

“I’m glad the two of you seem to be getting along better.” Allura smiled with slight playfulness in her voice as she watched the two.

“Eh, we have each others backs, am I right?” Lance shrugged and glanced at Keith.

“Right…” Keith replied, watching him while the other boy checked to make sure he didn’t miss a spot. Lance nodded to himself, pleased, before turning his attention to Allura.

The two began to chat among themselves while Keith pulled his towel over his head again. His thoughts went back to the day Lance found him in front of Shiro’s pod. They had gotten closer since that day, hadn’t they? He glanced back at Lance just as he finished helping apply Allura’s face mask.

“So, tell us about yourself, Allura,” Lance asked curiously as he learned back to enjoy the water.

“Um, alright. Where would you like me to start?” Allura replied.

“How about family? If it’s alright with you,” Lance offered, knowing it could still be a touchy subject, “It helps to talk about them when you miss them.”

Allura gave him a small smile before she took a moment to collect her thoughts. “Well, my father, my mother Isolde, and Coran were my immediate family,” Allura began, glancing over at the space mice as swam in the water. “However, the royal family was large and diverse. Many served as diplomats and peacekeepers, so many of my relatives varied in species and culture. I would also count those among the original crew of the ship as family since I had grown up with them.”

“Hmm, you guys must have had wild family reunions.” Lance couldn’t help but grin while Keith listened quietly with a faint smile.

“They were something alright,” Allura couldn’t help but laugh. “My cousin, Romelle, and I inadvertently started a prank war among the family. It started out harmlessly, but then one morning Coran woke up and his hair was blue.”

“Even his moustache?” Lance gasped, covering his mouth to hold back his laughter. “You didn’t.”

“Actually we didn’t! No one had a clue who had done it!” Allura laughed, shaking her head. “Coran hadn’t even noticed until he’d gotten to the dining hall and Akira changed his hair blue!”

“Uh, he changed his hair?” Lance raised an eyebrow, and Keith stared at Allura, unsure of why that name was familiar.

“Akira was the infant son of a family friend,” She explained, still grinning. “He was still getting used to his shape shifting abilities and had a knack for copying people’s hair color, like his parents, though Coran’s orange hair was his favorite.”

“Okay, that’s adorable…” Lance couldn’t help but admit.

“It really was. So, the moment Akira saw Coran’s hair, he shrieked in delight and copied it.” Allura remembered fondly. If she remembered right, Akira’s favorite color was blue. “The look on Coran’s face was priceless.”

“Oh man, what I would’ve given to be there!” Lance laughed; he kept picturing a toddler magically changing his hair blue while grinning up at Coran.

“And that’s when the war truly began.” Allura winked. “Coran suspected us or Falen (since he’d been getting a bit stricter with her training), but then he got word from a reliable source that it had been my father. Coran then sought revenge.”

“This story just keeps getting better and better.” Lance was practically at the edge of his seat, and Keith couldn’t help but crack a smile

Keith let himself relax as Allura continued the story. Lance asked a few questions here and there, usually to clarify something about family members or Altean words or customs that didn’t translate easily for him. She went on saying how everyone, including some of the crew, got dragged into the prank war. People had even taken sides to outdo the others.

“Trigel and Gyrgan sided with Coran, while Blaytz and his husband Marmora sided with my father.” Allura laughed, fondly remembering them. “The four of them were actually a retired paladin team, along with my grandmother, Fala. After they retired, they helped mentor the team after them and were very much like family.”

“Seriously? Gonna have to ask about them later,” Lance replied before looking at Allura, eager to hear more. “But what happened next!?”

“Well, in the end, my mother had been the one behind it all.” Allura giggled. “She’d been the one to tell Coran it had been my father as well.”

“It’s always the one you suspect the least.” Lance laughed, shaking his head.  

“Yeah, though for good reason. There had been some tensions going on in the galaxy at the time, and she had wanted to help everyone relax and spend time together,” Allura said fondly. “In the end, it turned out to be really nice, just everyone in the dining hall laughing, retelling stories of what someone did to someone else, and so on.”

“Nice to see the royal family can have some fun.” Lance grinned.

“Now the goo fight makes sense,” Keith brought up with a smile.  

“Must be from your mom’s charm,” Lance added with a laugh.

“That’s not the first time I’ve been told that.” Allura laughed, shaking her head and smiling at the memory of her mother.

“Man, your family reminds me a lot of mine. Everyone looking out for each other.” Lance sighed wishfully before offering Allura a smile. “Whenever we head back to Earth, you should definitely meet them. My niece would be jealous that I met a real princess before her. My mom would probably adopt you and Coran, invite you over for holidays and everything. You too, mullet,” Lance added, ruffling Keith’s hair.

“I’d like that.” Allura smiled, watching Keith get flustered at Lance’s teasing. The two began to bicker, mostly Keith asking what Lance’s problem was with his hair. It went back and forth for a bit, and Allura couldn’t help but think about potentially journeying to Earth.

It’d definitely boost morale if they detoured back to Earth. She’d look into an appropriate time for a short leave.. She may not have much family left, but as far as she knew, Lance, Pidge and Hunk left behind family.

If she were in their shoes, she’d give anything to be able to see her own family again. Some nights she stayed awake, wondering what happened to them, or what they thought when no one would locate the Castle of Lions. Did those who were left behind think they abandoned them? Did they think they were alone as Zarkon’s empire swept through the universe, hunting down any form of resistance? How long did it take for Zarkon to wipe out Altea and its people from existence? Did they even stand a chance or did the fight prolong for centuries?

“Hey, Allura? You alright?” Keith spoke up, startling Allura.

“Oh, I’m sorry, my mind was just wandering a bit...I was thinking about my family…” Allura admitted, looking down at the water. Keith and Lance didn’t press her and waited for her to continue. “I miss them terribly...I want to do everything I can to make up for not being there.”

“That’s why we're all here now. To avenge everyone who’s been dragged into this war,” Lance replied. “And seriously, if you ever need to talk about what happened, all ears.”

“Thank you,” Allura sighed. She had to admit, talking about them did help ease the pain a bit. “Coran’s the last person remaining in my family, but I’m glad how everyone is starting to feel like another family...”

“We’re the weirdest family I’ve ever seen.” Keith chuckled.

“Yeah, that’s for sure.” Lance chuckled, counting off one by one, “One Princess, one Royal Advisor/Space Uncle, five Paladins, five Lions and four Space mice. Pretty interesting family, if you ask me.” Keith smiled while Allura and Lance shared a laugh.

“Thank you for setting this up for us, Lance.” Allura added fondly, “It’s nice to be able to spend some time together to just relax.”

“Well, it’s not much, but I’m glad I can help.” Lance shrugged sheepishly before nudging Keith. “Alright, tough guy, what’s your story?”

“Not much to tell really.” Keith shrugged. Nothing he hasn’t already told them. “I don’t have many memories like the two of you have with your families. Shiro’s the only family I have left, besides you guys.”

“Aww, but still, how about tell us something about the two of you when you were kids?” Lance suggested before gasping. “Oh, tell us something embarrassing about Shiro!”

“Um, I don’t think Shiro would appreciate that…” Keith muttered, looking away unsure.  

“Keith, from one younger brother to another, it's your duty as the little brother to embarrass your older siblings,” Lance said as he slung an arm around Keith’s shoulder; definitely not ready to give up. “I don’t make the rules, it’s facts.”

“I second that.” Allura nodded solemnly. “You must, Keith.”

“Seriously?” Keith gave her a deadpan look, not believing she actually sided with Lance on this.

“Ha! Now out with it.” Lance grinned, “Come on, did he have any crushes as a kid? Was he smooth with the ladies?”

Keith barked out a laugh and shook his head, “No, he was not a ladies man, nope, not in the slightest.”

“What? Seriously?” Lance gave him a look and Keith stared at him deadpan.  

“Lance, he's gay and a massive dork. He could barely talk to anyone, much less get a date until he got to the Garrison,” Keith replied while Lance’s jaw dropped. Allura leaned over and shut it for him before Lance shook his head.

“Okay, I don't want to believe you, but then again Shiro did try to convince us that ‘blam blam blam’ was a better laser noise,” Lance replied, imitating shooting a laser gun with his hands. “Huh, still, didn’t know Shiro was into guys.”  

“I'm surprised you haven't noticed sooner, Lance.” Allura couldn’t help but smile. “Remember how flustered Shiro got when Rax asked him to dance during the celebration after we saved the Balmera?”

“What?! No! That was forever ago! Where was I?!” Lance complained.

“Weren’t playing with some Balmeran kids?” Keith asked curiously, “One of them got your helmet stuck on their head and you had to help them out.”

“You also had about five other children clinging onto your ceremonial Paladin attire,” Allura added as she held back a laugh.

“Oh yeah, that happened,” Lance replied as it started to come back to him.  “What can I say, I’m great with kids and we looked amazing.”

Allura had convinced them to wear the outfits, their paladin armor with stylish traditional robes, for the special occasion. She’d wanted them to get accustomed to wearing them for diplomatic events and celebrations. Lance’s favorite part was the cape, especially the inner part with nebula patterns that matched their colors.

“But anyway, back to Shiro and Rax, I can't believe I missed that!”

“It was rather sweet, seeing Shiro's face turn red. Not to mention he looked quite dashing in a cape.” Allura said with a smile, remembering how the purple nebula on the cape swayed around Shiro while he danced. “He did look like he was having a good time.”

Shay had been giggling the entire time she watched them. She mentioned Rax had always been rather serious, so seeing him nervous and tense around Shiro must have been quite a sight. Though, Shiro seemed to find Rax endearing and seemed as nervous as he was. They were dancing and laughing and having fun in no time. Shiro just had that sort of effect on people that helped put them at ease.

“Well you have to admit, Balmerans are pretty cute,” Lance replied, crossing his arms behind his head. “Shay's cute in that sweet way. Rax is cute in that grumpy way.”

The three of them nodded in agreement before Keith glanced at Allura. “Didn’t Shay want to dance with you and Hunk?” Keith smiled, not that he blamed her, seeing how much fun Shiro and Rax were having.

“Yes and I would have loved to dance too, but Coran insisted I take it easy due to the Rejuvenation Ceremony.” Allura sighed, not that she blamed him. She ended up leaving the celebration early to rest. “Before I left, I don’t think I saw you dance, Keith.”

“Some guys asked, even Hunk,” Keith said with a small smile, “Turned them down, though. Can’t really dance,” He admitted with a shrug. He ended up mostly talking to a few people or the team and trying the Balmeran food and drinks with Pidge and Shiro. Pidge’s favorite was this sort of orange and blue rock candy they had.

“Blasphemy!” Lance yelled out, startling Keith and Allura. “It is my mission now to help you find your rhythm.”

“What…Why?” Keith gave Lance a look.

“Because! Dancing is good for the soul!”

“I like watching you guys.”

“A little creepy, but come on, Keith, live a little!”

“CANNONBALL!” Hunk yelled out of nowhere as he jumped into the pool. The three sat there, stunned. The water washed off most of their face masks, and they tried to process what just happened.

Lance burst out laughing and shook his head. “See? Like that! Ten out of ten, Hunk! Bonus points for the sneak attack.”

“Thank you, thank you.” Hunk grinned before grimacing. “Ahhh, I think I got water in my ear.”

Keith was still recovering when Coran and Pidge walked over to the edge of the pool. Then, he quietly started to laugh before it got louder and louder, doubling over to clutch his stomach. The team looked at him in surprise. It’d been weeks since any of them had heard him laugh, but sure enough, they all joined him.

Pidge smiled took off her glasses and looked at Keith with a smile, “Good to see you out of your room, stranger.”

“I was dragged here against my will,” Keith replied, trying to calm down, still grinning from ear to ear.

“Yup, he was kicking and screaming the whole time.” Lance laughed and hooked his arm around Keith’s neck.

“You guys look like you’re having fun,” Hunk hummed as he floated lazily, enjoying the warm water. “Ah, toasty…”

“It’s definitely been a relaxing experience.” Allura sighed. “What have you three been up to?”

“Repairing castle sentries.” Pidge sighed before jumping in.  

“Don’t forget we almost died like nine times in the Forge just looking for parts,” Hunk added once Pidge resurfaced.  

“That too.” Pidge shuddered, remembering how she slipped into the pit of molten sentries.

“You two did rather well and deserve some relaxation now.” Coran spoke up, lounging on a floaty shaped like some sort of altean duck.

“Don’t have to tell me twice.” Hunk sighed contently as he sat beside Lance.

“Hunk!” Lance yelled, startling him. “New very important mission! We need to teach Keith how to dance! He can’t dance!”

Hunk perked up before giving Keith a very serious look. “I will not fail you.”

Keith groans loudly had a feeling there would be no way out of it now. He sunk lower in the water and blew bubbles annoyed. Soon enough, the team began a biggest cannonball competition. There were several amazing attempts including form and size of the splash. Amazingly, Allura out did them all in both form and size, partly by changing her density through her shapeshifting. The judges, Pidge and the Space Mice allowed it.

Afterwards, Coran invited them all to the kitchen for Altean tea that the Paladins only ever referred to as Space Sludge™ since it literally looked like space and stars in a cup with a strange thick but creamy texture. They all chatted for a bit about this and that, each of them happy to just have a normal day for once.

“Now, Keith! Embarrassing stories about Shiro when you were kids, go!” Lance exclaimed before taking a sip of his drink.

“You’re still on about that?” Keith gave him a look.

“Don’t think you can escape it!” Lance grinned.

“Oh, yes, Shiro gossip.” Hunk gasped, scooting his seat closer. “Lay it on us, Keith.”

“You can talk about his embarrassing crush on Matt when they met.” Pidge brought up, blowing her Space Sludge™. “You probably remember more than I do.”

“Wait...What?” Lance stared at Pidge in shock with everyone else before they all turned to look at Keith. “Shiro and Matt?”

Meanwhile, Keith hid under his towel and looked like he wanted to faze through the wall into the vacuum of space. “Ugh, I’m getting flashbacks Shiro being painfully awkward coming back to me at once…”

“He was really that bad?” Hunk laughed.

Pidge laughed. “Oh yeah, definitely.”

Keith sighed loudly. “Okay, so, when we moved into the Holt’s neighborhood, Shiro was like nine, and there weren’t a lot of kids around Shiro’s age, except for Matt. Problem was Shiro was a complete dork and didn’t know how to talk to people.”

_Keith looked back and forth between Shiro and the boy they’d briefly met the other day while they were dealing with the dagger incident. The boy was sitting under a tree reading a book while Shiro kept looking over at him, eventually just staring. Their mother, Hitomi, was sitting beside them and had also taken notice._

_“Takashi, why don’t you go and play with your friend?” Hitomi asked with an amused smile._

_“Huh? Oh, he’s not my friend,” Shiro replied before turning bright red. “No! I mean! Not yet anyway.”_

_“What’s stopping you?” She asked curiously, glancing back over at the boy under the tree._

_Shiro shrugged, picking at the grass. “I don’t know what to say.”_

_“Why don’t you just ask him to be your friend?” Keith asked before sipping his juice pouch._

_“ARE YOU CRAZY?” Shiro cried out as if it was the most terrifying thing he could ever do. At this rate, it might as well be._

_Hitomi laughed at Keith’s bluntness and Shiro’s nervousness before motioning for her eldest son forward. “Go on, make some friends. You’ll be fine.”_

_Shiro looked back at her, unsure, groaning before getting up and heading towards Matt._

“Then, when Shiro came back over, the first thing he did was yell, ‘MOM, DAD, KEITH, WE’RE GOING TO THE CARNIVAL,” Keith explained before shaking his head. “Somehow, they ended up talking about carnivals and one happened to be coming to town that weekend, and the Holts were planning to go.”

“Oh my god, this is better than I thought,” Lance snickered, covering his mouth with his hand to keep himself from laughing.

“What is a carnival?” Allura asked, both her and Coran looked a bit lost.

“Oh, so there’s roller coasters, ugh, like carts on a these rails that twist and turn super fast. They always made me feel sick…” Hunk shuddered.” Uh, rigged games you can win prizes at, greasy food, like funnel cake. Oh, and candy apples. Things like that.”

“Ah, like a festival!” Coran replied and clapped his hands together. .

“I guess you can think of it like that.” Hunk chuckled.

“Just not as fancy,” Lance added. “Anyway, what happened at the carnival?”

“Didn’t they get on the Ferris Wheel, and it malfunctioned on the top, and they were stuck there for a while?” Pidge asked, the memory slowly coming back to her.

“Uh huh.” Keith nodded. “And Shiro was afraid of heights back then.”

“Oh my god, seriously?! Shiro? The best pilot in the Garrison? Our Shiro?!” Lance nearly spit out his drink.

“Ironic, right?” Keith couldn’t help but chuckle.

“It’s a common fear,” Allura laughed softly.

“Are you saying you’re afraid of heights?” Lance teased and Allura shot him a glare.

“Heh, I think Matt actually helped him overcome his fear, though,” Keith added with a faint smile as he stared at his drink. “He’s helped him through a lot throughout the years…”

“Wait...were they dating back on earth? Before Kerberos?” Hunk gasped, looking between Pidge and Keith. “They were weren’t they!”

“Uh, yeah…” Keith replied, taking a sip of his tea while everyone but Pidge stared at him in shock.

“Why didn’t he tell us?” Allura asked.

“He probably didn’t feel the need to share it with everyone.” Keith sighed, crossing his arms. He knew by how happy Shiro was, he’d confessed the night before the launch. “It’s none of our business, anyway.”  

“And it’s been eating up at him that we haven’t been able to put all our attention looking for him,” Pidge spoke up, setting her cup down.

“Okay, then how about we put it some more effort?” Hunk spoke up, resting his hand on Pidge’s shoulder. “I know I should have offered sooner, but I can help with your sensors and data gathering to help find him and your dad.”

“What?” Pidge looked at him surprised.

“Yeah, Pidge. We’ve been putting it off. Time to do something about it,” Lance added in, hooking his arms around her shoulders while Coran nodded.

“What do you need, Pidge?” Allura asked.

Soon enough, the team began to toss around ideas on how to further the search for Matt and Sam. It took a while for them to realize they had talked for hours. They decided to turn in for the night and continue the discuss once they were rested.

It wasn’t until everyone was gone that Lance noticed Keith had fallen asleep at the counter. He sighed. This wasn’t the first time he’d carried Sleeping Beauty back to his room. Though, he was glad that this time, it wasn’t after an emotional breakdown. The poor guy deserved a break where he didn’t have to worry about anything.  

Keith was pretty easy to carry; he was a lot lighter than he looked (or Lance was getting stronger). He grinned at the thought before hitting the keypad to Keith’s room with his foot to take him inside. He set down the sleeping paladin on the bed and tossed a blanket on him.

He had to admit, Keith looked a lot more peaceful in his sleep this time around. He watched him for a moment and absently brushed his bangs off his forehead. Lance smiled. Keith’s skin was much softer after the spa date. Lance’s face went red, swiped his hand away quickly, and turned away the moment he realized what he was doing. What the heck was he even thinking?!

Lance took a deep breath to compose himself before noticing Keith’s dagger on a desk near the bed. He glanced back to make sure Keith was still asleep and noticed his jacket hung up by the door. He had to.

“Ooh, I’m Keith. I'm so cool. Ace pilot. Sword wielding paladin~” Lance struck a pose with each sentence, dagger in hand and jacket flailing around him. The jacket may look dumb, but it was surprisingly cozy. He looked up at the dagger, holding it over his head before noticing the wrappings around hilt.

Normally, he wasn’t so nosy, at least not like Hunk. Curiosity got the best of him, though, and he unwrapped it. A strange purple glyph on the hilt caught his eye immediately. Lance wasn’t really sure what to make of it. It looked oddly familiar, almost like a Galra insignia, but not quite. It couldn’t possibly be Galra, could it? And if it was, what did that mean?

“Lance…? What are you doing…?”

Lance had to keep himself from screaming and quickly wiped the blade behind his back as he turned to look back at Keith. “Nothing!”

To his relief, Keith still seemed a little out of it, sleep still heavy in his eyes while he sat up in bed. “Why are you wearing my jacket…?”

_Quiznak._

“I got a little chilly, there was a draft.” Lance half turned away and tugged as one end of the jacket. “It barely does a thing, it doesn't reach all the way.”

“Well, it’s not like you’re wearing a shirt…” Keith gave him a look as yawned.

“Well, neither are you.” Lance crosses his arms, taking care that Keith didn’t see the blade. It was bad enough he caught him wearing his jacket. “So, put on some pjs before you go to bed or you’re gonna catch a cold.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Keith yawned while he rubbed his eyes and wrapped his blanket around his shoulders. He vaguely remembered he’d been taking a break from water and decided to rest on a lounge chair before waking up in his room to find Lance playing with his jacket.

Lance turned away and pulled off the jacket, trying to ignore how cute drowsy Keith was. The messy hair, sleepy eyes, soft voice, he had no right. He carefully set the the jacket and dagger right where he found them. Thoughts briefly on the strange symbol on the hilt before turning to face Keith.

“Well, I should go, g’night.”

“Oh, okay…” Keith replied, trailing off as if he wanted to say something else.

Lance sighed loudly, recognizing that look anywhere from all the times he’d seen it from his younger cousins. “You want me to stay, right?”

“Oh, um, I mean…” Keith fumbled for his words.

“Say no more.” Lance marched straight for the door. “I'll be back.”

Keith had no time to protest before the door to his room shut, and he was alone. He let out a soft sigh, but a small smile formed on his lips. He got up to head to his washroom to change out of his swimsuit, finding a pair of red pajamas he didn’t recognize. When he took a closer look he noticed they were similar to the ones Hunk and Lance had. He could only assume Lance had left them in there for him.

When Keith stepped out of the washroom, Lance was already back in his pajamas, lying on the bed in a pile of extra blankets and pillows. Keith approached him and noticed he was staring at the little star carvings on the ceiling.   

“You made these?” Lance pointed up at them without looking away.

“Yeah, couldn't sleep one night not long before we all started out,” Keith replied, moving to lie down beside Lance and following his gaze up to the stars. Dozens of stars of different sizes covered the ceiling over Keith’s bed. Some even had dotted lines connecting constellation patterns. It was easy to remember them when he’d spent a year in the shack, looking up at the stars. “I wanted something familiar, you know?”

“What? You had those little glow in the dark stars on your ceiling?” Lance looked at him with a grinned.

“Yeah, when I was a kid.” Keith chuckled softly. “Shiro helped me put them up when I moved in with his family. Couldn’t take them with me when I went to foster care, but they were still important to me.”

“No, I get you. Had these growing up, too; still have them in my room back home.” Lance sighed softly as his eyes followed the patterns, recognizing a few of the constellations.

“You miss it, don’t you? Earth, home, right?” Keith asked, glancing over at Lance. “Your family, you talked about them a lot.”

Lance smiled weakly and looked over at Keith. “Yeah, talking about your family and the carnival and then about Pidge’s family and trying to find them just reminded me of them again.”

“It...felt nice talking about those times again…” Keith added before he sighed. “Still, I feel bad I couldn’t really say much to help for Pidge’s family. Not really one for all the techy stuff they were talking about.”

“Same. Still, we’ll help where we can.” Lance chuckled before his thoughts returned to his family. “You know, they'd like you, my family. My mom would probably try to adopt you and Shiro the moment she heard you guys were on your own.”

Keith smiled a bit and closed his eyes, already feeling tired again. They’d been quiet for a while that he thought Lance was asleep until he spoke up again.

“Hey, Keith? You awake?”

“Hmmm?” Keith hummed, keeping his eyes closed.

“You know how we’re rivals and all…” Lance went on.

“Uh huh, rivals, sure…” Keith sighed, rolling his eyes, unsure why Lance was so hung up on calling each other rivals.

“Yeah, yeah, anyway,” Lance said as he turned to look Keith in the eye. “Even if we're rivals, you know you can talk to me about anything, alright?”

“Yeah…I know…” Keith sighed, turning his head look at Lance, searching his eyes for any answers for what he was getting at. It felt like something he needed to brace himself for. “I actually wanted to tell you something.”

“All ears,” Lance replied, waiting for him to go ahead.

“Um, thanks for today...At first I wasn’t really sure how much this would help. Everything’s been a fog since everyone fell through the wormhole...Then, with everything that’s happened with Shiro, I started to feel lost again…” Keith began, realizing he was saying a lot and didn’t want to overwhelm Lance. “What I’m trying to say is, being around you two, just talking, the spa date, helped a lot. Then, just goofing off with everyone in the pool...I had a lot of fun..”  

Lance looked surprised, but smiled at Keith, “No problem, I’m glad...I think it’s something we all needed, ya know? We definitely need to plan something when Shiro wakes up though. He probably needs a break more than any of us.”

“Sounds good,” Keith replied, relaxing back to stare at the ceiling.

“I got it!” Lance gasped, suddenly speaking up. “Dance party.”

“Lance.” Keith rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to dance.”

“You’ll come around.” Lance grinned, and Keith sighed before the two of them fell into a comfortable silent.

For a while, the two absently began to count the stars on the ceiling. Still, Lance felt like there was something he should say. Today might have helped Keith, but he couldn’t just ignore what he saw that day. Keith was so broken in front of Shiro’s healing pod. He couldn’t ignore the nightmares or the Red Lion tearing apart the ship to protect him. He needed to face it.

“Keith, I know you don’t like talking about it, but…” Lance took a deep breath. It was now or never. “What happened to you while you were out on your own?”

_The rush of water as he crashed through the glassy surface. Something big dragging him down. Everything was a blur. Sharp teeth, dozens of eyes, tough hide. Bayard too far away to help._

Keith’s breath hitched and stared at Lance; fear surged through him as the memories started to rush back to him. It calmed a bit when he saw the concern in Lance’s eyes. He needed to tell someone; he needed to tell Lance. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, reminding himself he could still breath. “Red was powered down so I went out to see where we'd crash. I was by this river and this thing pulled me under…”

_Water filled his lungs, so cold it burned. Trapped, alone, scared, vision going black._

“It...had me in its jaws, tore up my armor pretty bad...It all happened so fast I didn’t know what to do…” Keith took another breath. He could still breath. Air was in his lungs, not water.  

“Keith...is…is that how you got this?” Lance asked, moving his hand to touch the scar on Keith’s stomach.

Keith flinched at his touch and grabbed Lance’s hand to keep him from touching it. Tears prickled in the corner of his eyes and he focused on the stars. Lance tried to apologize, he thinks but Keith said nothing, he couldn’t form the words.

_Everything was going dark. His head was feeling lighter as his energy began to fade. Life flashing before his eyes and the same things repeating over and over in his mind. I’m going to die. I’m going to die. I’m going to die. I don’t want to die._

So many nights, those stars over his bed had been the first thing he’d see after waking up from another nightmare from that day. It was what reminded him he was home, not back in that river no matter how many times he woke up shivering and gasping for breath.  

Keith wasn’t sure when Lance embraced him. He only became aware when his head was pulled against his shoulder, and Lance started to run his hand through his hair. Keith still hadn’t let go of his hand. He couldn’t find it in himself to let go. It was as much as an anchor as the stars were. He took another breath. He could still breathe, so he slowly rested their hands against the scar.

“I...almost drowned…” Keith took a sharp breath and gripped Lance's hand tighter. He wasn’t in the in the frigid water, he was in the blankets, warm, safe, with Lance. He wasn’t alone, he was safe. “I’ve never been so scared in my life…”

“Keith, you don’t need to keep going…” Lance’s voice was barely above a whisper.

“No, I...I need to…I” Keith stopped for a moment, his voice was shaking too much. He waited, he needed to keep going, someone needed to know. “I…something freed me…”

_Gold eyes, staring back at him in the water. You fight like a Galra. Galra. Galra. Galra._

“Lance…” Keith wanted to say it, he wanted to tell him but his throat closed up and he couldn’t breathe again.

_Claws tearing at whatever they could reach, teeth ripping through flesh, blood filling the water. So much blood, too much blood._

Keith covered his mouth, fighting the urge to gag.The memory of blood was so vivid he could taste it in his mouth. Keith’s breathing grew heavier. Lance was saying something to him again, he wasn’t sure what, something about being alive, being safe. Whatever he was saying slowly helped Keith catch his breath.

“You know…” Lance spoke up once Keith’s breathing had slowed down. “This is the second time I've cradled you in my arms. You've only done it once.”

“Are you saying you want me to cradle you in my arms more?” Keith muttered,his voice came out hoarse. He wasn’t sure how long the two of them laid there but his eyes were growing heavier and heavier. He could feel he was moments away from sleep but he wanted to hear Lance’s answer.

“I, ah, well, um, I wouldn’t mind it…” Lance looked away flustered. He waited for Keith to say something before noticing Keith’s breathing had calmed. He looked down and sighed when he saw Keith had drifted off and gently stroked his hand through his hair. “Sweet dreams, Sleeping Beauty…”

…

The next morning, Lance was still half asleep when he realized he was spooning Keith. He felt like he was dreaming, so didn’t think much of it at first. Until he decided to kiss the back of Keith’s neck without thinking. A soft sound escaped Keith’s lips, and Lance jolted awake so fast he fell off the bed. On is way down, he tried to grab for the blanket to keep himself from falling, but grabbed Keith's shirt instead and sent them both over the side of the bed.

“What the hell, Lance…” Keith groaned softly, rubbing his head. “Why are we on the floor…”

“Sorry! Uh, I thought I saw a space bug! It's gone now. And why are you still on me!”

“That doesn't answer my....oh never mind…” Keith mumbled and plopped back down against Lance and started to snore softly.  

“Keeeiiiittthh…” Lance whined, kicking his arms and legs a bit in a sad attempt to squirm free. Keith only mumbled something sleepily in response, his breath tickling Lance’s neck.

Lance’s face went red and he groaned loudly, covering his face. “This cute sleepy morning you is really killing your cool, brooding, mysterious image.”

“You think I'm cool...?” Keith mumbled, though he sounded a little surprised.

“Yeah, sure, and it has nothing to do with your dumb mullet,” Lance muttered, looking away as he contemplated that this was how he was going to die (of embarrassment at the thought that everyone else’s rooms were only a few feet away and someone could just walk in and see them).

“Stop insulting my hair…” Keith hummed before turning his head to look up at Lance. “And I think you're cool too…”

Any snarky response Lance had planned was gone as his brain short circuited. He was almost glad Keith decided to keep talking or anything he said would be gibberish.  

“You can be a pain, but you're always checking on everyone to make sure they're okay...It's like you keep everyone together and happy…” Keith went on, resting his chin on Lance’s chest.

“I...none of us asked for any of this, ya know?” Lance spoke up, finally finding his words. “It's not easy, just dropping everything and leaving everyone we know for this, but this is something we have to do...I just want to help, make it a little easier, you know?”

“Yeah...I...thank you...for what you did yesterday...and at Shiro's pod...and just...being there being you,” Keith said, looking at Lance in the eye. “The Blue Lion couldn't have picked a better Paladin.”

“Oh, haha dude, you're totally sleep deprived.” Lance looked away with an awkward laugh.  

“What? You don't believe me?” Keith gave him a look before grabbing either sides of Lance’s face. “Lance, thank you for being there when I’ve been a total mess. You’re amazing, Lance.”

Lance was silent for a few moments. Neither of them broke eye contact before Lance flashed Keith a playful grin. “I am, aren't I? I'm just not...used to hearing it.”

“Well, then I'll just keep saying it. You're amazing, Lance.”  Keith smiled at him fondly.

“You're not so bad yourself.” Lance smiled back and rested a hand over one of Keith’s and they fell into another comfortable silence.  

“We’re having another bonding moment.”

“You just ruined it.”

“How did I ruin it? We’re having a bonding moment.” Lance grinned before he started to laugh, in turn causing Keith to burst out into laughter and bury his face into Lance’s shoulder.

Lance rolled over and clutched his side when it started to hurt from laughing too much. He pushed Keith onto the floor beside him, and they were both still laughing, their noses pressed up against each others. Keith’s bangs brushed up against Lance’s head, and he tugged at a strand as their laughter finally died down.

“You need a haircut, Mullet.” Lance hummed, feeling Keith’s breath on his lips as he brushed back his bangs absently.

“Now you’ve definitely ruined the moment,” Keith muttered, rolling his eyes, but the smile never left his face.

Suddenly, the comms went off, and they heard Allura’s voice overhead.

_/Everyone get to the cryo room! Shiro’s awake!/_

Lance and Keith stared at each other, taking a moment to process what Allura had just said before scrambling to their feet. They pushed and shoved as they rushed out the door, the moment forgotten for now.  

...

Shiro stood in the astral plane before the Black Lion. He wasn’t sure how much time has passed beyond this place. He remembered after they had fallen through the wormhole, the wound on his side began to get infected quickly and there was little he could do to treat it. And, as if his luck wasn't already bad enough, Galra forces appeared out of nowhere and all he could really do was hide in the asteroid field, but he couldn't hide forever.

Just as his consciousness began to slip away, he felt it. There was a change within him as he and the Black Lion had melded minds. It was like nothing he’s ever experienced before as they became one being. It felt much different than the first time they melded minds. The Black Lion quickly became his eyes as they maneuvered through the asteroid field. Then, they caught sight of the Castle of Lions with two Galra battle cruisers between them. In that moment, paladin and Lion understood each other completely.

They both wanted to be free; they wanted to go home.  

Shiro felt drawn to his Lion and approached her slowly. He let out a gasp as he stumbled and clutched his side. Flashes of memories came back to him of Keith pulling him out of the Black Lion. Blood, so much blood everywhere. His blood? Shiro glanced down to his hand and could see the familiar glow of the wound.

A low rumble drew Shiro’s attention back to the Black Lion. Pain shot through the wound and he fell to his knees. She kept calling for him, but he didn’t dare to get closer to her. Voices whispered at the edge of his mind, but they did not sound like his Lion’s voice. They felt alien to him, speaking in a dialect he couldn’t understand.

He could hear the Black Lion try to call to him over the voices, but they only grew louder and louder. The next thing he knew he was in a pod filling with purple liquid. He could feel himself start to suffocate, his body felt like it was on fire and he wanted to scream.

Shiro woke with a start and gasped for air. He panicked, realizing he was inside of a pod before he noticed the rest of the team waiting on the other side. His fear melted away and he let out a sigh, the nightmare forgotten for now. The pod door opened and he stepped out carefully, feeling a bit light on his feet. Keith was there in an instant, colliding with him as he embraced him tightly, followed quickly by Pidge who latched onto his side. Shiro laughed and returned the embraced.

“Miss me you guys…?” Shiro said softly.

“That’s putting it lightly.” Pidge punched his shoulder weakly and clung onto him. “You’ve been here for days.”

“You were in bad shape when we brought you here.” Keith spoke up, his voice cracking as he clung to him tighter.

“I’m sorry I kept you waiting…” Shiro replied, before noticing he was shaking.

“Keith, stop crying you’re going to make me cry!” Lance yelled, already on the verge of tears while he hugged Keith’s back.

“Oh geez, too late for me!” Hunk sobbed and hugged them all tightly before the five of them stumbled to the ground in a pile.

Shiro wince, his head smacking against the healing pod. His ears were ringing, but he could guess by the look on her face that Allura was scolding them. Lance and Hunk just shared a look before dragging Allura and Coran down to join the group hug, dog pile. They all burst out laughing, relieved everything was alright now.

Shiro waited for things to calm down a bit and he pulled Keith away to get a good look at him. He looked like a mess and didn’t look like he’d been enough enough sleep recently. Keith kept staring at him like he was about to disappear if he let go.

“Hey, hey, I’m okay, I’m not going anyway…” Shiro whispered, pulling him close again as he ran his hand through Keith’s hair. “I promise…”

Once things had settled down, Shiro made his way to the main hangar. The Black Lion was waiting alongside the other lions. As Shiro approached them, he could sense her communicating with them. The Lions did not speak with words, it was more like emotions and feelings like Lance had first explained it. Shiro wasn’t sure why it had suddenly become easier for him to understand the rest of the Lions, but he knew they were glad to see both he and Black was alright.

The Black Lion lowered her head as Shiro approached. He smiled and rested his head against hers and took a deep breath. He wasn't sure what he saw in that nightmare, but he allowed himself this moment of peace with him and his lion. 

“We’re home…”

 

 

* * *

 

**SASC Timeline:**

**Kerberos launch:** Keith & Shiro say goodbye, Matt & Pidge say  goodbye, Pidge finds out Shiro and Matt are together

**Kerberos incident:** Keith kicked out of garrison after punching Iverson

**Before team separation/Shortly after the team forms:** Coran confronts AI Alfor for tricking him into the cryo pod, resulting in him and Allura being asleep for 10,000 years, he can’t trust him and is still grieving Alfor’s death so keeps their interaction at a minimum

**Post Crystal Venom:** Coran sweeps up AI chamber → Pidge walks in on his monologuing; Green Paladin bonding → Engineering BondingTM

**After first battle w/ Zarkon, team separated:**

Keith stranded, attacked by water monster & first turns Galra, the team find Keith and then track down Shiro who is trapped in an asteroid field with two galra cruisers trapping him, his wound from Haggar hasn’t been treated and got infected → Shiro activates the Wings of the Wraith which help him escape and get back to the Castle → The strain and the infection puts him in a coma

**Team Reunited; Shiro in coma:** Keith changes again after nightmare of water monster in his room, he keeps experiencing his nightmare and won’t tell the others what happened, the Red Lion nearly destroys her hanger to try to get to him to protect him, he starts to distance himself from the team

**Few days later:** Keith goes to Shiro’s pod and pleads for him to wake up → He reminisces about his time in Garrison → Keith nearly tells Shiro he is Galra before Lance finds him having a breakdown, he stays and comforts Keith, unsure what else he can do → Bonding moment 2.0

**One month before ambush:** Keith keeps having nightmares; Spa date with Lance and Allura → Allura reminisces about family → At the same time C/H/P go through The Forge and find what’s left of the place, H/P learn the history of the place and how it was the place where the war began → After everyone meets up at the pool they go to the kitchen for altean tea (Space Sludge, as the paladins call it) and chat, Pidge reveals Shiro  & Matt are dating and Keith tells a brief story of them when they were kids

**Keith and Lance have a sleepover** , he reveals to Lance how he was attacked by the water creature, excluding info on how he is Galra, but it helps him recover and accept what happened to him, aka Bonding Moment 3.0

**Next day:** Shiro awakens from coma

**One week before ambush:** Shiro reflects on his time as Champion, sees his scars, reflects on Zarkon’s connection to Black Lion. Coran sees Shiro’s scars. Paladin sparring session: Lance accidentally punches Keith, Keith skin partially changes to Galra from the punch, he runs off, identity still unknown to team. Shiro finds Keith in the Red Lion; Keith reflects on not being human. Lance talks to Keith before dinner and offers Keith a bandage for his face and the two make up → Bonding Moment 4.0

**Two days before ambush:** Coran  & Shiro bond; Shiro talks about his memories (or lack of) and Coran reminds him he is allowed to grieve for what happened to him

**The Ambush:** The team respond to aid a planet from Galra forces and the team splits up. Keith goes to temple, hears Haggar, confronted by Lance & attacks him by stabbing into his shoulder→ Keith refuses to go w/ Paladins because is afraid of hurting others. Hunk tells the other Paladins that Keith is galra, Lance losing a lot of blood and losing consciousness, he does not want to give up on Keith.  

**Fall of the Castle of Lions:** The Castle is shot out of the sky. Shiro went back for Allura and Coran while the rest of the team protect the Castle, the team is overwhelmed and Allura opens a wormhole for the Garrison Trio to escape, Red Lion and Keith are mind controlled to attack Lance and the Blue Lion with their cannon during the escape. Both are seriously injured and fall through the wormhole and the wormhole sends the three of them to earth. 

**Garrison Trio on Earth Arc**

**In the Wormhole** : Pidge helps get Lance out of the Blue Lion and sees his eyes are glowing like when the pilot and Lion are in sync

**Trio arrives at earth:** Pidge gives speech to the Garrison to keep them from being arrested and to get Lance medical help. Garrison reveals technology with reverse engineered Galra weapons

**Two days after they get to earth** : Pidge dreams of astral plane, briefly seeing Coran and also sees Lance & Blue and what happened when she helped Lance in the wormhole, she believes there is more to it but wants to wait for Lance to wake up for answers → Pidge & Hunk can’t sleep and have a bonding at Pidge’s house, Colleen makes them hot chocolate and listens to their worries

**A Week After Ambush** : Lance wakes up in the hospital; the families reunite and meet the Lions. The Trio think about how the rest of the team have been with the Galra for days and hope they’re still okay.

**Captured Team Arc**

**On the Galra Ship:** Shiro, Allura, Coran, Keith captured by Galra and separated. Keith is brought to a lab and experiencing guilt over what happened and hurting Lance, he starts to hallucinate when the Druids and Haggar experiment on him,  Shiro reminisces while captured, when he and Keith when they were kids and when they got closer after the knife incident, Keith was getting bullied by kids for liking a boy and scared them with his knife, Shiro ends up standing up for him. Shiro and Matt first met during time for the first time. Shiro is smitten.  

**S/C/A attempt to escape** : The Space mice help Allura escape from her cell and she disguises herself as a guard and frees Coran & Shiro. Shiro won’t leave without Keith but knows there’s a chance to get recaptured, Coran goes along with him, Shiro trusts Allura to pilot Black Lion if they fail to rescue Keith

**Shiro & Coran find Keith in a lab **→ Keith betrays them, he takes down Coran quickly before focusing on Shiro. Haggar takes down Shiro before confronting Coran, revealing him as a former paladin with her illusions. Shiro and Coran are recaptured, Shiro finds out through Haggar’s magic she has been seeing through his eyes, learning about the paladins to lead them to their downfall  

**Thace witnesses Allura’s escape** → with the Black and Red Lions and S/C’s confrontation w/ Haggar and Keith  & their recapture through video feeds, he is currently the commander of a ship and within Zarkon’s inner circle and can’t blow his cover so he can’t go to their aid yet, instead he boards the Castle of Lions in search for something  

**Coran is alone in his cell** → he is hallucinating due to stress and a head injury from the crash and awakens in the Green Lion’s astral plane → He briefly sees Pidge there before slipping into memories of Alfor and the past paladins, through the flashbacks he pieces together Keith’s origins and realizes he is Sol and Kozak’s son, Akira  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope the timeline helps a bit :V sorry if its written a bit like shorthand but anyway I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter c: please feel free to comment and leave feedback or tell me what you think it's encouraging and I will literally love you forever thanks ^_^


	10. Only Been A Moment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *walks in 6 months late with starbucks and leaves this fic for anyone who's still here because i have an awful update schedule* thank you so much i love you for still being here your support gives me life, school has been killing me tho ;w; but yay new chapter please enjoy!

**_Galra Flag Ship - Observation Deck_ **

Keith’s screams echoed through the room as the Druid channeled their magic through him. The Druids had been at it since Allura’s escape, trying to use his and Shiro’s connection to the Lions to track them down. Yet, it was proving more difficult than they realized to pinpoint their location. 

Shiro laid on the ground beside him, barely conscious as static sparked off his body from the Druid’s earlier attempt on him. He gritted his teeth and tried to find the strength to get up to keep them from hurting Keith. 

“Enough,” Haggar ordered, and Keith collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. 

“I can’t sense my Lion…” Keith could barely say above a whisper.  

It pained Shiro to see how broken Keith looked. He tried to reach out to Keith, but let out a scream as he rose to the air and the Druid’s magic surged through him like electricity. Shiro could feel it prodding at his mind, searching for the Black Lion; it was getting harder to keep at bay now. The room suddenly lit up with bright colors and light of space.

“Stop...” He cried out weakly, clenched his jaw, struggling to fight it as space and stars moved around them. 

They passed through planets and damaged ships, retracing Allura’s path since her escape. Shiro tried to close his eyes in vain when he began to hear his heartbeat.  

_ The Black Lion’s roar echoed in his mind and Shiro let out a gasp as he suddenly found himself in the pilot seat of his lion. His vision was blurred, and there was a dull ache at his side. He looked down to see a glowing wound and winced when he saw that the skin around it had darkened. His mind spun, and he could sense the Black Lion urging him to stay conscious.  _

_ He remembered now, this was the memory he and the Black Lion strengthened their bond when they’d been separated from the team.  _

_ The Black Lion had taken refuge behind a hollow asteroid. The asteroid field was the only thing keeping Zarkon and his forces at bay. A red light went off inside the cockpit; the Black Lion had taken too much damage.  _ _ They had been chased non-stop for what Shiro imagined was days now. _

_ They barely got away  _ _ the first few times, and that was with _ _ the lion’s emergency wormholes, but they had long since exhausted those systems. With no idea where they were, Shiro could only send them where he thought was safe, but each time they thought they’d gotten away, Zarkon and his forces weren’t far behind. It was as if they were being tracked somehow.  _

_ Shiro barely had the energy left to move. All he could do was stare at the damage reports on his monitor. Several scultrite lenses were too damaged to warp them out of the field and past the Galra fleet. The Castleship and the Lions were doing what they could to clear a path to get to him and the Black Lion, but there was too much resistance.  _

_ Shiro could hear Keith and the others trying to contact him, but it was so hard to keep his eyes open. He raised a hand weakly, hoping he opened the comms.  _

_ “Keith...If I don’t make it…” _

_ “No! Don’t talk like that!” Keith snapped at him, his voice cracking.  _

_ “We’re going to get you out of here, Shiro!” Pidge yelled. Shiro could hear the tears in her voice.  _

_ There was so much Shiro wanted to say to everyone in that moment, but he was at a loss for words. Were they really going to be able to get him out of there? His grip on the Black Lion’s controls weakened, and he couldn’t find the strength in him  to move. He wasn’t going to make it.  _

_ “I’m sorry…” Shiro’s voice was so soft he didn’t know if any of them could hear him. He wasn’t ready to go, but he could feel himself slipping, the sound of his heartbeat slowing until there was nothing but silence.  _

_ The next thing Shiro knew, he was lying on the ground, surrounded by stars tinted purple. He wondered to himself t if this was it, if this was the afterlife. He didn’t feel any pain, and stared at the endless sea of stars before noticing the Black Lion stood before him, perhaps in judgement.  _

_ A low rumble came from the Black Lion as a light appeared beside Shiro. The light’s appearance flickered between each of the paladins before settling on its form. Shiro felt like he was staring at a stranger, despite the fact that he was looking at his own face. This face had no scars, was much more youthful, and had no white hair in sight.  _

_ “Do you regret it?” It asked, watching him thoughtfully; even its voice felt foreign to him. “Going to Kerberos. Everything that has lead up to this point? _

_ “No…” Shiro said, finding his voice. His thoughts drifted to his paladins, every memory they had together, good and bad. “I only regret not being able to see it through…” _

_ “What are you willing to give to get a second chance?” It asked. Another rumble came from the Black Lion as if it waited for his answer in anticipation.  _

_ “Anything…” Shiro replied as he forced himself up. The image of his past self disappeared, and he stared up at the Black Lion. “I can’t end it here...knowing others will be forced into the same pain and fear I felt when I was taken.” _

_ Shiro could feel the Black Lion’s presence in his mind grow stronger and louder. Their connection had always been strong for reasons he couldn’t understand, but it always felt distant. It was as if their connection was a means to an end.  _

_ Now he could see why as clear as day. He could see images of planets he’d never seen being destroyed,  battles that weren’t his, a paladin he’s only known as a monster who imprisoned him. Only now could he feel the Black Lion’s pain, anger, fear, betrayal. All those emotions returned tenfold now that they were so close to being recaptured. She was urging him to stay alive. He felt her desire for freedom from those who had caused her so much pain. _

_ The silence was broken and his eyes snapped opened, his pupils glowing as the Black Lion let out a roar. His heart rate accelerated, and it was then that Shiro felt his mind and soul merge with his lion into one. The Black Lion shot out from cover as two blue wings extended from her back. The two charged forward as if they were a phantom, straight towards the Castle of Lions.  _

No, Shiro would not waste the second chance the Black Lion had given him. He wasn’t going to lead the Druids back to the Lions and refused to be Haggar’s pawn any longer. 

“STOP!” Shiro screamed, grasped his head as the connection suddenly shattered. A backlash of energy shot through the room, and he collapsed while the Druids recoiled in shock.  

“How is your connection strong enough to resist?” Haggar hissed as she approached Shiro. 

“I...know the trust Zarkon shattered with the Black Lion…” Shiro muttered, glaring daggers at her as he fought to stay conscious.

Haggar narrows her eyes before taking a vial from her robe and injected it into Keith’s neck. Keith went rigid and he gasped out as yellow circuit-like veins spread across his neck and cheek. 

“What are you doing to him?!” Shiro tried to get up before he cried as a Druid kept him pinned to the ground. 

“You’ll know soon enough.” Haggar said before injecting the vial into his neck. 

Shiro stiffened and he knew something was very wrong the instant he felt the substance enter his bloodstream. He started to feel sick to the pit of his stomach, but somehow the sensation was familiar. Shiro’s vision blurred and he saw Matt in Keith’s place with the same odd infection covering his neck and parts of his face. His hair was longer and damp with sweat like he was running a high fever. 

_ “Are we ever going to get out of here…?” Matt asked weakly, turning his head to look over at Shiro. His infection seemed to have spread further; his left eye was completely yellow with the strange circuit like veins beneath it.  _

“Your condition will deteriorate again if you are not monitored.” Shiro could hear Haggar’s distant warning, “It’d be best not to attempt another escape. You might lose more than just another limb.” 

Shiro’s vision started to go black and in the memory he tried to reach for Matt. Just as he was about to touch him, Shiro’s hand and arm began breaking apart into a yellow light. The next thing he knew, everything had gone dark, and he was in the astral plane with the Black Lion staring down at him. 

Shiro doubled over, and the infection started to spread across his projection in this place. He felt something in him break; the ground beneath him cracked and splintered with corrupt quintessence. He collapsed and used all his willpower to keep it from spreading to his Lion. 

_ “Remain strong, my Paladin. In order to protect those you love...” The Black Lion spoke while her form flickered between the rest of the team. She finally settled on Matt before his image disappeared in a bright golden light. “...or risk destroying everything you love.”  _

**_Elsewhere_ **

Matt’s eyes shot open, and he screamed as the infection flared on his skin. His veins felt like they were on fire. He clutched his left eye and cheek tightly, but the pain refused to subside. He doubled over as he fell from his bed, knocking down a few data pads. His body trembled as he struggled to reach the door. His vision started to blur and his hearing was muffled.  

In the haze, Matt just made out the door opening as two figures rushed into the room. Two sets of golden eyes hovered over him. Their appearances suddenly morphed into Haggar and her Druids. Their voices, speaking in a language he couldn’t understand filled his head. He lashed out, attempting to keep them away. The two held him down, telling him to calm down while they tried to keep him from thrashing. 

Sparks of yellow energy flew off his skin, but neither of them would let him go. Their hands began to absorb the excess energy, but their efforts couldn’t keep the energy from flared out spontaneously. They were knocked back as the blast shot up damaged the walls. Matt kept screaming; he could still see Shiro and his hand unraveling into the same energy that was damaging the interior of the ship.  

“Rax, something’s not right. this isn’t like last time!” Shay’s voice suddenly broke through the chaos. 

“Shay, go get Ulaz. if we can’t stop this, this could take down the ship!” Rax called back to her. He was sure Ulaz must already be on the way, but he’d prefer Shay not be in harm’s way if this got worse. Shay got up reluctantly before running out of the room. 

“Matt, if you can hear me, you’re going to be okay. Shay’s getting help.” Rax tried to keep his voice calm, doing his best to drain the excessive energy with his abilities. 

He winced as he began to hear voices from the quintessence, and they only grew louder and louder. Rax screamed as a powerful surge of energy shot out and broke through the exoskeleton on his shoulder, revealing the inner crystal structure.   

The door burst open as Ulaz rushed in. Matt could see Ulaz’s face through the fog and initially felt fear. No, he had to remind himself that Ulaz was a friend and was going to help him. Then, he felt a syringe pierce his neck and the fire in his veins slowly started to fade. 

“Matt, you are safe here. I am not going to harm you,” Ulaz said softly as Matt began to calm down. 

Matt laid motionless on the ground while Ulaz checked his vitals. Once he determined Matt would be okay, he picked him up to bring him to the med bay. Shay rushed to her brother’s side and they followed him, Rax assuring her over and over that he was fine. Sam was at his son’s side, gently brushing his hair from his face. Matt’s vision began to clear as he looked up at him tiredly. 

“How are you doing, son?” Sam asked with a small smile.  

“Been better…” Matt muttered tiredly, reaching to touch the veins on his neck and jaw. Sam couldn’t help but grimace, knowing Matt’s condition was getting worse. Matt tried to return the smile, glad the worst had passed for now. “Did I hurt anyone…?”

His voice trailed off when he noticed Shay helping patch up Rax’s shoulder. He winced, but also couldn’t help but stare a little. Matt didn’t realize Balmerans were like geodes. It was kind of beautiful to look at. Still, it didn’t lessen the guilt he felt, knowing Rax and Shay were risking their lives for him.  

“Don’t worry about it.” Rax brushed him off, already seeing the look of guilt in his eyes. “I’ll be fine.”

The Druids’ experimentation on Matt was difficult to understand. It was an infection that appeared only after mixing human physiology with galra quintessence. The result had severe side effects, causing Matt’s body to slowly break down and rearrange itself during these surges. If the energy was not channeled out of his system properly, it could cause serious harm. 

Matt tapped his metal leg absently. His memories were still fuzzy, but he lost it during a major surge. He was only alive because Ulaz found him when he did, but he wasn’t able to save Matt’s leg. Now, the infection cropped out where the mechanism and his knee met. 

Ulaz checked over Matt’s leg once more to ensure no damage had been dealt. Due to limited resources, it was difficult to find high quality materials to construct it, much less repair it after particularly strong surges. 

Ulaz and Sam were still searching for a ways to stabilize and improve Matt’s condition. Sam knew human physiology well while Ulaz knew much more about quintessence and galra technology. Most of what Ulaz had learned of humans came from the experiments on Shiro and Matt. So far, the Balmareans’ abilities to drain quintessence and give small doses of raw quintessence was the only thing that did anything to help Matt, but it wasn’t a cure. 

The med bay door opened, and everyone turned to see Te-osh. Even aboard Ulaz’s ship, she was the highest ranking rebel officer among the group and was in charge of their safety. Matt had to admit they were all an odd bunch, but they somehow found each other.

“Everyone in one piece?” Te-osh asked calmly, leaning against the wall beside the door. 

“More or less.” Rax shrugged, looking between him and Matt. 

“He should be fine for now, but I recommend he takes it easy,” Ulaz replied as he finished going through the results. “This flare likely built up from inactivity and stress from the prolonged space travel.” 

“This surge came faster than what we’d predicted. How long do you think it’ll be until the next one?” Sam asked. He’d prefer they be on solid ground the next time it happened. He wasn’t sure how much this ship could handle damage from within. 

“It’s difficult to say. I’ll have to analyze his results, but these surges are occurring more frequently and are increasing in strength,” Ulaz said before looking up as Shay finished setting a shoulder brace over Rax’s injuries. “I am not sure how much longer Shay and Rax can delay your condition before the damage causes permanent harm.” 

Matt worriedly glanced over at Shay and Rax, but they couldn’t say anything. Sam sighed, brushing his hair back, noticing how tired Matt looked. 

“We’re going to find a way to help you. We’re not giving up,” Sam assured him, pulling his son into a gentle embrace. Matt returned it weakly, but knew they were all thinking the same thing: he was running out of time.

“Sure, but I don’t want to see any of you get hurt,” Matt replied solemnly. If these surges were only getting stronger, he didn’t want to even think about what he could do to them. 

“We’re tougher than we look.” Rax added, tapping his shoulder. His injuries already beginning to close up slowly. “We just need to be careful.”

“I didn’t have any doubts about that. You already look tough being made of stone and all.” Matt couldn’t help but smile. 

“Matt, we’re going to help you for as long as we can,” Shay said firmly; she wasn’t ready to give up. “We’re going to find the paladins soon and they’ll be able to help.”

“Locating them and the healing technology aboard the ship will help search for a cure.” Ulaz admitted. 

“Thanks guys.” Matt sighed, appreciating their support. “Anyway, sorry for waking everyone up.” 

“Well, since everyone’s up we might as well get something to eat.” Te-osh noted as she looked over the group. 

The team gathered around the rec area, eating rations in relative peace. Sam served the group warm drinks and passed them out. Te-osh took her drink with a nod as she read over some reports. During their search for the Paladins they’d occasionally stop to aid other rebel groups. Matt let himself space out, picking at his food while Shay and Rax chatted among themselves. He knew everyone was trying to keep the mood light for his sake. 

“Matt, is something wrong?” Sam asked, noticing after watching him that something was troubling him.

“Is this happening to Shiro?” Matt spoke up softly, looking up between Sam and Ulaz.

“The last I saw of him, the infection was dormant. I made sure of it before releasing him. The arm I built for him helped to keep it in check.” Ulaz replied. “I’m afraid your situation is more sensitive. You’d gone weeks without treatment after Te-osh and her group rescued you and in that time it began to mutate. I was lucky to have found you when I did.”

“More like we found you.” Te-osh muttered with a smirk. Matt snickered softly while Sam couldn’t help but smile. This happened long before Shay and Rax had joined the group. 

The first time Matt experienced a surge it was after the rebels had rescued him. Back then it was much smaller, but it was in the middle of training with Te-osh. The only harm it really caused was to Matt, but he recovered quickly from it. By that point, no one had realized how extensive the experimentation was done to him. They’d seen things before on other prisoners they rescued. Most didn’t last long, but whatever this was was completely different. 

Matt had been in a market restocking supplies when he caught sight of Ulaz. He kept his mask up when he approached them. Ulaz had noticed the severity of Matt’s infection and did not want to alarm him. It was when he began to speak that Matt was brought back to his days of experimentation and started running. 

Ulaz tried to stop them, but since there were about a dozen or so rebels in the market that day, he was overpowered quickly. Te-osh and Sam were very puzzled to see Matt out of breath beside a dogpile of rebels on top of an unconscious galra. 

After being interrogated, Ulaz admitted to being one of the scientists involved in the experiments. However, he offered them his aid because he knew the risks Matt was facing and that his condition was only going to worsen.. There were several things he regretted while working undercover in the Empire. This was one of the things he wished to amend.  

At the time, there was nothing he could really say to convince Matt to trust him, nor did he expect it, considering all he’d done. That was, until he mentioned Shiro’s escape. It made Matt pause because no one had ever asked for names among the Galra or Druids. They only ever referred to him as Champion or by their prisoner numbers. 

Then while Ulaz was still imprisoned while the rebels were deciding his fate, Matt had another surge. It had worsened to the point no one could even touch him without injury due to the excessive energy being expelled, damaging the ship in the process.

Ulaz had to break out of his cell to get and get past the rebels to get to Matt. His armor was able to shield him from the energy as he worked to lesson the reaction. Once it had passed, Ulaz knew he couldn’t leave Matt in this condition alone. In the end it was decided it would be best for Matt to go with him. Matt wanted to find a cure and he did not want to endanger the rebels any longer. Sam joined them for his son, while Te-osh decided to go with them to keep an eye on Matt for the Rebels. 

With some difficulty, Ulaz managed to convince his superiors that his position with the trio was beneficial for Matt and the search for Voltron. Ulaz kept the Blades informed of their search, their leads on Voltron’s whereabouts eventually brought them to the Balmera. However, shortly after they had arrived on the Balmera, Matt had a severe episode. 

Matt had been fine one moment, but the next, he was on the ground. Pain shot through his body and everything had blurred. The next thing he knew, he had woken up underground, surrounded by a large crystal structure with Sam and Ulaz relieved he was okay. A few Balmerans stood nearby with Te-osh, and one approached them, asked him if he was okay, calling him Pidge. 

That was how he met Shay and Rax. The Balmera told them to bring him down to the core to save his life. It drained the excess energy safely, but it wasn’t a permanent fix. It taught Rax and Shay to do the same before urging them to go with them. The two were more than happy to help to search for Pidge and the others.  

“Well, the last time we saw Shiro he seemed perfectly fine,” Shay brought up. “There was a celebration after Voltron freed our people. We were all in the ballroom in the Castleship. There was so much food and music and dancing! Even Shiro and Rax danced.”

Matt couldn’t help but laugh. “Shiro doesn’t know how to dance.”

“Now that kind of explains things.” Rax added with a smile. “Everyone else was having their fun. He was the only one off to himself just watching over everyone. Figured he needed to relax a little.”

“That sounds a bit more like him.” Matt replied fondly. Shiro never really knew how to relax. 

Matt had been thinking more about Shiro recently. He kept thinking about his latest surge and couldn’t shake the feeling something had happened. He was scared he wouldn’t be able to find Shiro and Pidge in time. Even then, there was no guaranteed cure for him.

Ulaz and Sam’s recommendation so far was to keep Matt stable until they found the Castleship. The healing pods and the Altean technology and data on quintessence to determine a proper cure. Hopefully they can get some answers they need on Olkaron.

Matt set aside his untouched food and brought up a data pad and flipped through it absently. Ulaz had given it to him not long after they’d formally met, not as a prisoner and scientist, but after they’d both found their way off the fleet. Matt supposed it was a peace offering; it had hundreds of files on several species and their cultures. He flipped to the Olkari section and began to read it over to become familiar with where they were headed to.  

This data pad was something small, but Matt appreciated having access to information on other species and cultures. If anything, it helped him and his father cope with their abduction. They did not get the best first impression to alien life, so being able to learn about the rest of the universe was a breath of fresh air.  The rebels had some information of their own, but nothing as extensive on the overall universe. Though, Ulaz had mentioned the Blade of Marmora had a vast collection of knowledge they were attempting to restore. 

At first, Matt was surprised that there was Galra resistance within the Empire. Ulaz mentioned that rebellion had always existed in some shape or form. For many members, rebellion began with knowledge of their history. Galra history was withheld and rewritten over the centuries, a majority of it lost even completely destroyed. 

The Empire began to slowly weaken from within. It began with the loss of the ability to access and share knowledge freely among the known universe. Eventually, it led to harsher methods, such as the lower treatment of those who had mixed Galra blood. Many Galra did not see the damage the Empire created for the people and others in the universe until it was too late.

The Blade of Marmora desired change and to reclaim the lost history and knowledge the empire tried to eradicate. Anything from missing pieces of the Galra’s history to information of extinct species was hidden. One of the species Matt came across in his readings were Alteans, and the information from Ulaz may very well be the only thing that remained of them.  

“What are the Blade of Marmora like?” Matt asked absently as he set his data pad down. 

Te-osh mentioned different rebel groups that have seen the Blade of Marmora members throughout the years. They worked from the shadows, occasionally lending aid to rebels. Their actions even helped saved entire colonies, but they were gone as quickly as they left. The Blade of Marmora was almost regarded as a myth. Te-osh had been surprised that they were all Galra; however, she and a few other rebel officers were willing to give them the benefit of the doubt due to their aid in the past. In times like this, they all needed to work together. 

“You already know there’s not a lot I can disclose to you, Matt,” Ulaz replied, taking a sip of his drink. 

“I was thinking more of what you guys are like outside of combat,” Matt continued, hoping his question wasn’t pushing anything. 

“Not too different from what we’re doing now, I suppose,” Ulaz answered truthfully, glancing up at the group. “The order may appear distant to outsiders, but by nature, Galra are a species that need social connections.”

“Are you calling us your friends?” Matt couldn’t help but grin.  

“I would hope so, after all we’ve been through,” Sam added with a smile as the rest of the team looked at Ulaz in  amusement.

“It remains to be seen,” Ulaz replied, taking another sip of his drink with a light smirk. He had to admit, he did feel at ease among them.  “Despite the dangers, it is encouraged to form bonds among the Blades. It builds loyalty and morale, but they must also understand how quickly these bonds can break if a mission were to go wrong.”

“I understand,” Te-osh replied, taking a deep breath. “I have known many who did not return from battle. We must walk a fine line in this war, but cherish the connection we still have.”

“Do you have any friends in with the Blade of Marmora?” Shay couldn’t help but ask. 

“I suppose there is one,” Ulaz replied before getting up to make his way to the ship’s controls. “Now then, I have some matters to attend to before we arrive to Olkarion. Please excuse me.”

He checked on the monitor for any reports that were sent through the Blade’s communication, but his thoughts lingered on the group. Oddly enough, they’ve all become like a family. A very mismatched one at that. There weren’t very many people among the Blades that Ulaz considered close to him. He’d been undercover for years, and in that time there was only ever one other member he could confide in. 

A message appeared on his screen, and his expression softened, recognizing Thace’s transmission code. He was starting to get a little worried when he hadn’t heard from him in a few days. Ulaz’s demeanor dropped as he read through the report and the reality of the situation hit him. He stood there for a tick with his head lowered as he let it process. Team Voltron was compromised with only three to account for, and the Castle of Lions, the very thing they searched for, was in Galra custody. 

Taking a breath, Ulaz stood straight. He needed to inform the others of the situation. He could only hope now that Thace could keep a level head given the stakes; Ulaz couldn’t imagine how Thace was feeling right now. A part of him thought that Thace was already doing something rash, and Ulaz only hoped it wasn’t anything that would get him caught. 

**_The Castle of Lions_ **

Thace’s footsteps echoed quietly as he walked through the empty halls of the Castle of Lions. He felt nervous, no, not nervous, uneasy walking these halls again. He knew he shouldn’t have been there in the first place. It would arouse suspicion if he were to be discovered, but there was no telling what Zarkon had in store for this place once they’d return to the main fleet. He was there for a reason (perhaps a selfish one), but there was someone he needed to find.

He stood before a simple white door; the seams were almost invisible against the wall to keep its secrecy. He typed in the code and the door slide open with a quiet hiss. He took a breath before stepping inside the AI chamber, and his heart dropped the moment he saw the room was dark. He ran to the center quickly. There had to be some sort of mistake; everything was just as he remembered, except there was no AI to greet him. There was only a small hologram of a juniberry flower sitting in its place.

“I was hoping to see a friendly face. I suppose it was too much to hope for, Alfor…” Thace spoke softly, a pained smile formed on his lips.

He stumbled forward and sat beside the platform, cupping his head in his hands. His features slowly began to change; golden markings appeared on his cheeks and neck, glowing brightly as tears began to stream from his face. The skin on below his eyes turned back to its original umber color while the upper half of his face remained purple. He let out a small sigh. It wasn’t much, given the circumstances, but he felt at home again in his own skin.

“I wasn’t sure what I was expecting coming here…Perhaps, I was lonely…I’ve been alone for so long, Alfor…” Thace, or rather Kozak said softly, his voice breaking, and he took a deep breath. He glanced back at the platform, half hoping Alfor’s ghost would make a dramatic appearance and speak to him. Alas, he had no such luck and the room remained silent. 

“It’s been, what? 17 Deca-Phoebs? Doesn’t seem like much in the grand scheme of things…” He said bitterly as a weak smile formed on his lips. “I don’t think any of us could have possibly imagined our lives ending up like this.”

It’d been years, but even so his nightmares were still filled with the sounds of the castle’s alarms blaring and the screams of refugees as the ship was struck by Zarkon’s flagship. 

_ The attack came from nowhere in the middle of the evacuation efforts. Several of the shuttles were wiped out immediately, either too far to return to the ship or not fast enough to escape. They stood no chance, at least until Alfor gave them that chance. _

_ When all hope was lost, dozens of wormholes had begun to open up at once. Refugee ships disappeared while Galran ships went through one wormhole, only to reappear and crash into another battalion. Blasts sent from Zarkon’s flagship were redirected through the wormholes. Once it was clear the ship could not follow, Alfor had opened a wormhole for the Castle of Lions to escape. _

_ By the time Kozak and Solana had reached the command room, the teledov controls were severely damaged, sparks shooting out of it. Coran and Alfor were on the ground, half dead while Coran desperately tried to save Alfor’s life with a quintessence transfusion. It was madness trying to rush them to the healing pods in time. In the end, opening so many wormholes  was too much of a strain on Alfor’s life force. _

_ “Hey, easy now…” Kozak said softly as they helped Coran out of the healing pod. He still seemed a bit out of it as the two helped to keep him steadying.  _

_ “I’m glad you’re okay.” Sol said softly and embraced him.  _

_ Coran returned the embrace weakly, but once he got his bearings, all he could ask was, “Where is he…?” _

_ They helped him to the healing pod and Coran read over Alfor’s vitals. He stiffened when he saw his condition, and they all knew there was no chance for Alfor to wake up. He was depleted of quintessence, and the only thing keeping him alive was the healing pod. Preparations were already underway for the memory transfer.  _

The three of them were present when the AI first awoke, though Coran did not stay long. It was difficult for him, and he couldn’t face him just yet. The guilt of not being able to save him was too much for him to handle. 

_ “Don’t take it personally. He just needs some time,” Kozak said after watching Coran exit the room, and he turned back to face the AI. It said nothing, but there was a sadness in its eyes as he stared at the door.  _

_ “Alfor,” Sol spoke up, “We do not know the whereabouts of the ships you sent through the wormholes. The Teledov controls still need time to restore. Where did you send them?”  _

_ “I’ve sent them to the farthest sections in the universe. As far from the conflict as possible to keep them safe. It was a risky decision, but they should be safe for the time being,” The AI replied, summoning a map of the universe. “This is where I wish for you to hide the Lions.” _

_ They studied the planets Alfor had chosen, though Kozak’s gaze lingered on a single green and blue planet partly covered in ice. Something about it called him to it. This, this is where he would take the Blue Lion.  _

“So, Alfor, Sol and I did what you asked,” Thace’s voice wavered and he glanced back at the AI projector. “It...didn’t go according to plan…But, when has anything ever went according to plan these days?”

What happened after he and Sol left with their lions was a blur, but  he remembered finding Akira hiding in one of the storage compartments in the Blue Lion. Akira was terrified and wouldn’t move until Kozak made a sling to carry the small child on his chest. Then, out of nowhere, they were attacked. Alarms were blaring, systems were failing and Kozak heard Sol calling to him, before there was a loud band and crash. The next thing he knew he was 10,000 years in the future.  

“I...don’t know what’s became of Sol, Alfor…It’s like she just vanished...” Thace spoke barely above a whisper and closed his eyes. He wanted to stay hopeful, but with each passing year he lost faith that she was still alive. A part of him always thought those words Sol tried to say to him that day were final. It pained him that he couldn’t even remember what they were.  

After he awoke, he remembered holding onto Akira, trying to soothe him. Once things had calmed, it hadn’t  taken him long to discover they had landed on a planet called Earth. After he gathered as much information as he could, he knew the planet was safe and very distant from the rest of civilized space. Still, that still posed a problem.     

_ “Okay, I can do this, I can do this.” Kozak took a deep breath as he sat on the floor cross-legged in front of Akira who mirrored him. “I’m going to have to shapeshift, or be arrested. This planet has minimum space travel technology, so humans have no contact with any other species from what I’ve gathered...” _

_ Akira just stared at him curiously, tilting his head to the side. The boy’s current appearance mimicked a Galra. Kozak gave him a weak smile before ruffling the boy’s hair. “You make it look so easy, huh?” _

_ Kozak may have had Altean blood in him, but it was much more dilute than Akira or Sol’s. Both of them could shapeshift easily; it took more effort and concentration for Kozak to do it himself. _

_ “Alright, let’s give it a shot…” Kozak took a deep breath willed his form to change.  _

_ It took some work, but when he looked at his reflection, it didn’t look too bad. He touched his cheek where his markings once were before noticing his round ears. His hair was also black, while his skin was completely umber, with a few patches of lighter skin, mostly on his neck. His irises were still gold; hopefully, that wasn’t a strange color for a humans. Akira stared at him in awe and easily mimicked him. Kozak couldn’t help but smile and he picked him up and held him close.  _

_ “Hm, you look like your mother. If she had weird, round ears,” He said with a small smile, caressing the small child’s ears and making Akira giggle. Kozak took another deep breath before setting him down. Stars, he really hoped this  worked. “Now, Akira, I know it’s fun to shapeshift, but while we’re outside exploring, you’ll need to stay looking like me, okay?” _

_ Akira pouted and crossed his arms stubbornly.   _

_ “Please? For me, little one?” Kozak asked gently, holding out his hand. It was a common galra gesture for children and family to tap each other’s wrists to seal a promise. “We can go out and find a treat.” _

_ Akira perked up and seemed convinced. He raised his hand and tapped his wrist with his father’s. Kozak smiled as he picked up Akira and patted his head as he headed out of the Blue Lion. “Alright, shall we? Get some rest, Blue, we’re off on an adventure.” _

“I left Akira on Earth, thinking he’d be safe there…with people I trusted could care for him as they did their own son.” Kozak closed his eyes, resting his head in his palm. “Shiro and Akira...Keith, I didn’t expect them to be dragged into this, as Paladins no less…” 

_ Kozak would be lying if he said he wasn’t terrified right now, suddenly on a new planet in another time. A planet with no apparent knowledge of the rest of the universe and its people, with a child to care for now on his own, no less. The Blue Lion had crash landed on a mountain side, not too far from a small town. It was quiet and peaceful for the most part, but it didn’t really put him on ease. _

_ Still, he and Akira somehow found themselves sitting on a park bench, staring at  some sort of frozen treat a vendor had offered them as part of some promotion. They weren’t sure what to make of it. At best, it looked like frozen food goo on some sort of cone. The two looked at each other and shrugged before giving it a taste. The two were pleasantly surprised by the sweet taste and smiled at each other  before continuing to enjoy their treat in peace. _

_ Kozak let his mind wander as he watched the people around him. There were several families going about their day. These people who looked very much like Alteans, but lacked their markings and pointed ears. There was also something else they lacked; Alteans possessed a sort of aura to them, which was related to their abilities to manipulate quintessence. In comparison, the people on this planet felt like ghosts of the people he once knew. _

_ The thought suddenly made him feel very alone. Alfor was lost to them due to his attempt  to save the survivors, but there was no telling how long they could have survived from a tyrant bent on destroying their species. Now, ten thousand years later, Kozak was alone with his son on a strange planet with people that were not his own. _

_ His thoughts suddenly turned to Sol. No, he couldn’t accept that she could be gone as well. It felt like only seconds since they had last spoken, but those final words were out of his reach. He tried to remember what happened to her, but nothing was coming back to him. He thought about their lives together, meeting as paladins, their love blossoming, and nearly losing her.  _

_ Had the Red Lion not intervened on the mission to the volcanic planet, Sol would have died. Her armor had been damaged, and too much ash had gotten into her lungs. The team could hear that she was having difficulty breathing over the comms. Kozak tried to keep her calm, but he was paralyzed at the thought of losing her They hadn’t even known she was pregnant with Akira at the time. _

_ That fear was returning him now at the thought Sol could be gone again. He just couldn’t accept she’s just gone. Not after everything they had been through.    _

_ It hit Kozak that he was holding something in and tears began streaming down his face. He felt numb and scared, helpless to stop the emotions spilling out, but he didn’t want to see Akira see him like this. He needed to be strong for them. He quickly brushed away the tears and forced himself to smile, to assure assure his son he was fine.  _

_ Akira wasn’t convinced in the slightest, unsure of what to do. He offered his father the remainder of his treat and rested his head against him. Kozak couldn’t help but smile weakly and absently stroked his hand through his son’s hair.  _

_ “Watch out!” A young boy cried out. Kozak had very little time to react when a ball smacked into the side of head.  _

_ The universe really hated him, didn’t it? Kozak groaned and rubbed his head as the boy ran over to them. Kozak opened his mouth to say something, but stopped short when the Blue Lion’s roar echoed through their connection. He recoiled in shock and stared at the young boy.  _

_ “I’m so sorry, sir!” The boy said, bowing his head while a man jogged up to them.  _

_ “Takashi, I told you to be careful.” The man sighed before turning to Kozak. “I apologize. Um, I’m Mateo. Are you alright?” _

_ “You’re not hurt, I hope?” A woman approached; Kozak figured the two were the boy’s parents.  _

_ “I’m fine, I’m fine just a bit startled.” Kozak tried to reassure them. He couldn’t shake what he sensed from the boy. Did he have potential? He shook it off and offered them a smile. “The aim was definitely a bit off, but it was a good kick.”  _

_ Takashi laughed, and his parents were glad this was resolved peacefully. Then, Akira tugged Takashi’s sleeve to get his attention, the ball resting in his hand. Kozak hadn’t even noticed when Akira had retrieved it.  _

_ “Thank you, um, I’m Takashi Shirogane.” He replied, taking the ball back. _

_ “His name is Akira. Sorry, he’s been a little quiet these days.” Kozak smiled and ruffled Akira’s hair.  _

_ “Taka?” Akira spoke up, surprising Kozak. His son hadn’t spoken much since the war began. Kozak took a breath, starting to feel a little choked up again.   _

_ “No, no, it’s Takashi.” Takashi looked a little embarrassed.  _

_ Akira made a face, seemed to think for a few moments, “Shiro.” _

_ “Uh, sure you can call me that if it's easier for you.” Shiro smiled sheepishly. “Um, do you want to play with us?” _

_ Akira hesitated and looked up at Kozak. Kozak smiled at him, hoping it was more convincing this time as he ruffled his hair. “I’m okay, I’m promise. Go have fun.”  _

_ Akira smiled, and Shiro took his hand, the two following Mateo to go play. He was glad to hear Akira talk again, even if it was just a name. It was a step forward from what they’ve been through. _

_ “I’m Hitomi, do you mind if I join you?” Shiro’s mother asked, watching their children go with a smile.  _

_ “Not at all, Hitomi,” Kozak replied, moving aside to offer her room. He watched Akira, who was trying to get the hang of the game, with a fond smile. It took some coaching from Mateo and Shiro, but he was staring to get the hang of it.  _

_ “What’s your name?” Hitomi asked after a moment of silence “I’m sorry I forgot to ask after all this.”  _

_ “Ko-” Kozak began without thinking and hesitated. Was Kozak a strange name to have for a human? They hadn’t said anything about Akira’s name, but Akira was an Altean name. Would they think it was foreign or be suspicious? Quiznak, he had to think fast “-gane.” Smooth.  _

_ “Kogane? I take it that’s a last name,” Hitomi said with a smile.  _

_ “Yes,” Kozak replied, quickly stuffing Akira’s melting treat into his mouth to avoid speaking further.  _

_ “Careful, or you’ll get brain freeze.” Hitomi laughed while Kozak looked at her, unsure of what she was referring to. The two sat in silence, watching their families play together.  _

_ “Are you alright, Kogane?” Hitomi asked again, her voice much calmer. “I noticed you, before you were hit by the ball...You seemed upset.” _

_ “I...don’t think I am, but I have to be for my son,” Kozak replied honestly. “We’ve...lost so much in so little time, all we can do is keep trying to move forward. Akira doesn’t fully understand what’s happened, but it still scares him.” _

_ Just then, the ball came rolling in their direction, and Akira chased after it, barreling straight into Kozak’s leg to embrace him. Kozak couldn’t help but smile fondly, brushing the dark hair from his son’s eyes before the boy retrieved the ball. _

_ “Thank you, Hitomi.” Kozak looked up at Hitomi with a smile. “This is the first time I’ve seen him smile this much in a long time.” _

_ “Can the same go for you?” She asked.  _

_ “I suppose.” Kozak laughed softly. He looked up at Akira and Shiro and felt a strong bond between them.  _

_ Kozak didn’t know why the Blue Lion had kept them alive this long, but he could see now maybe they were meant to be here after all. He wondered if Akira could also sense Shiro’s potential through his connection to the Lions.  Kozak may not completely understand this feeling Blue was trying to tell him, but he trusted her.  _

Those felt like simpler times compared to now, Thace thought bitterly. The image of the Blue Lion being shot through the teledov repeatedly played in his mind. Now, she was too far from him to sense her. He was completely in the dark and he was angry. 

Now Thace was left to deal with the consequences of what Haggar had done to his son and his Lion. Akira, Coran, and Shiro were in Haggar’s hands, and there was nothing he could do to reach them. It was hard enough to become one of Zarkon’s inner circle and act as if he didn’t want to scream after seeing what Zarkon had become. 

Thace wondered what Hitomi and Mateo were thinking now with both sons lost in space. “Now, both our sons were drawn back into a war they shouldn’t have to be a part of...Just as I was.” He looked away bitterly before took a deep breath and stood up. “There is just no escaping it and it cannot be ignored…”

The war wouldn’t have been the paladin’s responsibility had the conflict been prevented centuries ago, but there was nothing anyone could do now. Thace glanced back down at the juniberry hologram once more. There were so many uncertainties, and he didn’t know what the future would hold any of them, but it was time for him to get to work. 

“I’ll help make this right and bring our children home,” Thace spoke softly but resolved as he stood tall, allowing his form to shift back. “Goodbye, for now, Alfor…”  

Thace made his way to the command center with little issue. To his knowledge, the Druids had already tried to search for the coordinates of three missing Paladins, but nothing had been found. The information had been wiped completely from the Castle’s systems. 

That could only mean only Allura knew the whereabouts of the other Paladins since she was the only one able to control the device. Coran was always at her side and may know the coordinates, but interrogations had been fruitless. It was risky, but he might be able to persuade Coran to reveal the Paladins’ location if Thace revealed his true identity. However, he would have to tread lightly. He had no idea how Coran would react, and there wouldn’t be enough time to explain everything. 

Thace sighed and continued on to search through any files, scanning for anything useful that may have been overlooked. His ears perked, and he tensed when he heard the sound of a gun charging behind his head.

“Don’t make any sudden moves. Step away from the console and turn around slowly.” A synthesized voice spoke up from behind him, and Thace let out a heartfelt laugh, recognizing the voice of Coran’s grandfather.  

“Maybe I’m not as alone as I thought.” Thace allowed his face to shift back to his familiar features as he turned back slowly to face a damaged palace sentry with a orange mustache painted on his face. 

“Kozak...? Stars, would you please explain to me what’s going on?” Dekar asked puzzled, slowing lowering his weapon. “One moment you’re caught in an explosion in the Forge, then you wake up 10,000 years later to Coran repairing you alongside two new paladins.”

“You’ve met them?” Thace couldn’t stop smiling. 

“Ah, yes, but only briefly. They powered me down for a bit to reboot my systems. The next thing I knew, the Castle is falling from the sky. Had to hide in the vents to keep the Galra from discovering me.” Dekar scoffed. 

“I’m afraid it’s a very long story.” Kozak chuckled. “I’ll admit, it’s good to finally see a familiar face.”  

“Well, the feeling is mutual. Now would you mind telling me what’s going on?”

* * *

**SASC Timeline:**

**(Posting this as a refresher):**

**Kerberos launch:** Keith & Shiro say goodbye, Matt & Pidge say  goodbye, Pidge finds out Shiro and Matt are together

**Kerberos incident:**  Keith kicked out of garrison after punching Iverson

**Before team separation/Shortly after the team forms:** Coran confronts AI Alfor for tricking him into the cryo pod, resulting in him and Allura being asleep for 10,000 years, he can’t trust him and is still grieving Alfor’s death so keeps their interaction at a minimum

**Post Crystal Venom:** Coran sweeps up AI chamber → Pidge walks in on his monologuing; Green Paladin bonding → Engineering BondingTM

**After first battle w/ Zarkon, team separated:**

Keith stranded, attacked by water monster & first turns Galra, the team find Keith and then track down Shiro who is trapped in an asteroid field with two galra cruisers trapping him, his wound from Haggar hasn’t been treated and got infected → Shiro activates the Wings of the Wraith which help him escape and get back to the Castle → The strain and the infection puts him in a coma

**Team Reunited; Shiro in coma:** Keith changes again after nightmare of water monster in his room, he keeps experiencing his nightmare and won’t tell the others what happened, the Red Lion nearly destroys her hanger to try to get to him to protect him, he starts to distance himself from the team

**Few days later:**  Keith goes to Shiro’s pod and pleads for him to wake up → He reminisces about his time in Garrison → Keith nearly tells Shiro he is Galra before Lance finds him having a breakdown, he stays and comforts Keith, unsure what else he can do → Bonding moment 2.0

**One month before ambush:**  Keith keeps having nightmares; Spa date with Lance and Allura → Allura reminisces about family → At the same time C/H/P go through The Forge and find what’s left of the place, H/P learn the history of the place and how it was the place where the war began → After everyone meets up at the pool they go to the kitchen for altean tea (Space Sludge, as the paladins call it) and chat, Pidge reveals Shiro & Matt are dating and Keith tells a brief story of them when they were kids

**Keith and Lance have a sleepover** , he reveals to Lance how he was attacked by the water creature, excluding info on how he is Galra, but it helps him recover and accept what happened to him, aka Bonding Moment 3.0

**Next day:**  Shiro awakens from coma

**One week before ambush:** Shiro reflects on his time as Champion, sees his scars, reflects on Zarkon’s connection to Black Lion. Coran sees Shiro’s scars. Paladin sparring session: Lance accidentally punches Keith, Keith skin partially changes to Galra from the punch, he runs off, identity still unknown to team. Shiro finds Keith in the Red Lion; Keith reflects on not being human. Lance talks to Keith before dinner and offers Keith a bandage for his face and the two make up → Bonding Moment 4.0

**Two days before ambush:**  Coran & Shiro bond; Shiro talks about his memories (or lack of) and Coran reminds him he is allowed to grieve for what happened to him

**The Ambush:** The team respond to aid a planet from Galra forces and the team splits up. Keith goes to temple, hears Haggar, confronted by Lance & attacks him by stabbing into his shoulder→ Keith refuses to go w/ Paladins because is afraid of hurting others. Hunk tells the other Paladins that Keith is galra, Lance losing a lot of blood and losing consciousness, he does not want to give up on Keith.  

**Fall of the Castle of Lions:** The Castle is shot out of the sky. Shiro went back for Allura and Coran while the rest of the team protect the Castle, the team is overwhelmed and Allura opens a wormhole for the Garrison Trio to escape, Red Lion and Keith are mind controlled to attack Lance and the Blue Lion with their cannon during the escape. Both are seriously injured and fall through the wormhole and the wormhole sends the three of them to earth. 

**Garrison Trio on Earth Arc**

**In the Wormhole** : Pidge helps get Lance out of the Blue Lion and sees his eyes are glowing like when the pilot and Lion are in sync

**Trio arrives at earth:**  Pidge gives speech to the Garrison to keep them from being arrested and to get Lance medical help. Garrison reveals technology with reverse engineered Galra weapons

**Two days after they get to earth** : Pidge dreams of astral plane, briefly seeing Coran and also sees Lance & Blue and what happened when she helped Lance in the wormhole, she believes there is more to it but wants to wait for Lance to wake up for answers → Pidge & Hunk can’t sleep and have a bonding at Pidge’s house, Colleen makes them hot chocolate and listens to their worries

**A Week After Ambush** : Lance wakes up in the hospital; the families reunite and meet the Lions. The Trio think about how the rest of the team have been with the Galra for days and hope they’re still okay.

**Captured Team Arc**

**On the Galra Ship:** Shiro, Allura, Coran, Keith captured by Galra and separated. Keith is brought to a lab and experiencing guilt over what happened and hurting Lance, he starts to hallucinate when the Druids and Haggar experiment on him,  Shiro reminisces while captured, when he and Keith when they were kids and when they got closer after the knife incident, Keith was getting bullied by kids for liking a boy and scared them with his knife, Shiro ends up standing up for him. Shiro and Matt first met during time for the first time. Shiro is smitten.  

**S/C/A attempt to escape** : The Space mice help Allura escape from her cell and she disguises herself as a guard and frees Coran & Shiro. Shiro won’t leave without Keith but knows there’s a chance to get recaptured, Coran goes along with him, Shiro trusts Allura to pilot Black Lion if they fail to rescue Keith

**Shiro & Coran find Keith in a lab **→ Keith betrays them, he takes down Coran quickly before focusing on Shiro. Haggar takes down Shiro before confronting Coran, revealing him as a former paladin with her illusions. Shiro and Coran are recaptured, Shiro finds out through Haggar’s magic she has been seeing through his eyes, learning about the paladins to lead them to their downfall  

**Thace witnesses Allura’s escape**  → with the Black and Red Lions and S/C’s confrontation w/ Haggar and Keith & their recapture through video feeds, he is currently the commander of a ship and within Zarkon’s inner circle and can’t blow his cover so he can’t go to their aid yet, instead he boards the Castle of Lions in search for something  

**Coran is alone in his cell**  → he is hallucinating due to stress and a head injury from the crash and awakens in the Green Lion’s astral plane → He briefly sees Pidge there before slipping into memories of Alfor and the past paladins, through the flashbacks he pieces together Keith’s origins and realizes he is Sol and Kozak’s son, Akira  

**Now updated with the events of this chapter**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In some distant alternate reality, Funtry (The fun galra sentry) and Dekar are friends, two palace sentries being bros with personalities. Star-Crossed lovers perhaps?  Haha yeah, anyway, thanks for reading I hope you enjoyed let me know what you think please and thanks, I'm graduating this spring so soon school won't be soul crushing and kill my vibe to write ;w; thank you again for all the support
> 
> I'm planning hopefully to write this scene next chapter I've had in mind for a really long time the Galra Gala I'm very excited to get that part done and to share with you guys


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